MANU BHAKER – FIRST INDIAN WOMAN TO WIN SHOOTING MEDAL AT OLYMPICS
Manu Bhaker on Sunday won bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event at Paris 2024, creating history by becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic shooting medal.
Overall, this was India’s fifth Olympic medal in shooting and first in any sport at Paris 2024. India won shooting medals at three consecutive Olympics from Athens 2004 to London 2012, but went without a medal in the next two editions.
ABOUT MANU BHAKER –
The 22-year-old Manu Bhaker shot 221.7 to finish third in the eight-woman final.
“This medal was very long awaited for India,” said Manu Bhaker after creating history at the Paris Olympics. She ended India’s 12-year-long wait for an Olympic medal in shooting. Despite becoming the first Indian woman shooter to win an Olympic medal, the 22-year-old Manu Bhaker looked hungry for more medals. The young shooter was the darling of the entire nation on Sunday. However, three years ago, Manu Bhaker returned home from her first Olympics empty-handed and in tears after failing to live up to expectations. She competed in three events at her first Olympics, but things did not go her way.
The heartbreak in Tokyo was too much to bear. In 2023, Manu Bhaker started finding shooting boring, it became like a “9 to 5 job” for her. Manu lost the passion that had inspired her to pick up a pistol at the age of 14. She wished to left the sport and wanted to pursue higher education abroad. Manu was part of the Indian national team and winning medals at the highest level, her desire to be the best in the world seemed to be over. However, Manu did not give up.
And that’s when Manu picked up the phone and called her former coach and renowned strategist Jaspal Rana. She wanted to meet again and Rana agreed. This happened three years after the two had a public fallout. Both shooter and coach buried the hatchet and worked together again. The fire was rekindled. Manu prepared herself for the next big goal – the Paris Olympics.
“In the starting months of 2022 and 2023, I felt it was a 9-5 job for me. And I don’t like doing the same thing every day. It makes me feel bored. It doesn’t feel good to me at all,” Manu Bhaker told IndiaToday.in before leaving for the Paris Games. “That was the time when I felt that I’m still in the team so I’m doing okay but it’s not giving me any kind of happiness and pleasure. I felt this is the time I should quit it and maybe focus on my studies, go to college and study abroad for a while. I was really thinking about it,” she said.
Manu’s ability to dig deep and find passion again did not go in vain. She stood on the podium at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 28. She had learnt a lot from the harsh memories of Tokyo. The young shooter looked calm and composed and thankfully, her pistol did not malfunction and she shot 221.7 to win the bronze medal and become an unforgettable part of India’s Olympic history.
Manu Bhaker on Sunday became the first Indian woman shooter to win an Olympic medal by winning a bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol event at the Paris Olympics. She was just 0.1 points behind Kim Yeji when she bowed out in the final on Sunday. Kim eventually won the silver medal while her Korean compatriot Oh Ye Jin won the gold.
Three years after missing the Tokyo Olympics due to a pistol malfunction, the 22-year-old shooter won the bronze medal behind two South Korean shooters.
In the process, Manu Bhaker has become the first Indian woman shooter to reach an Olympic final in an individual event in the last 20 years! The last time an Indian woman shooter reached the final was Suma Shirur, who made it to the final of the 10m air rifle event at the 2004 Athens Olympics held in the Greek capital.
Indian shooters have striking success at the Olympics over the years. At the Athens 2004 Games, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won a silver medal in the men’s double trap event. This was followed by Abhinav Bindra’s historic gold medal in the men’s 10m air rifle at Beijing 2008, India’s first individual Olympic gold. At London 2012, Gagan Narang won bronze in the men’s 10m air rifle, and Vijay Kumar won silver in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol. Most recently, Manu Bhaker won bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Of the four medals won by Indian shooters at the Olympics before Paris 2024, none were won by Indian women. The last medals for India from the Olympic shooting range came at London 2012, where rifle shooter Gagan Narang (bronze in men’s 10m air rifle) and pistol shooter Vijay Kumar (silver in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol) won medals.
Today she has become an example for many girsls and we all should take inspiration from her.
