Highlights:
- Manu Bhaker makes history with a bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol at Paris 2024.
- First Indian woman to win an Olympic shooting medal.
- India’s fifth Olympic shooting medal and first at Paris 2024.
Manu Bhaker created history at the Paris 2024 Olympics by winning the bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol event on Sunday. She became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic shooting medal.
This remarkable achievement marks India’s fifth Olympic medal in shooting and the first medal in any sport at Paris 2024. India had previously won shooting medals in three consecutive Olympics from Athens 2004 to London 2012 but had failed to secure any in the subsequent two editions.
The 22-year-old Manu Bhaker scored 221.7 to finish third in the eight-woman final. Oh Ye Jin of the Republic of Korea won the gold medal with a new Olympic record of 243.2, followed by her compatriot Yeji Kim, who edged out Bhaker to win the silver with a final score of 241.3.
Manu Bhaker started the final strongly, scoring 50.4 in the first series to secure second place. A couple of 9.6s in the second series caused her to slip to third behind Oh Ye Jin and Yeji Kim. Bhaker regained the second position at the end of the third series and once more during the closing stages of the final. However, Yeji Kim narrowly edged past Bhaker by 0.1 point to enter the gold medal round.
“I just put all my effort into staying in the moment until the last second, just not giving up and keep trying harder and harder,” Manu said. “You have to hold yourself together, because that’s what all the hard work is for. Although the competition was neck-and-neck and I lost silver by .1, I’m still very grateful to win bronze for my country.”
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Manu Bhaker was on course to qualify for the final in the same event, but a pistol malfunction cost her six precious minutes, resulting in her missing the final by just two points.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won India’s first Olympic medal in shooting with a silver at Athens 2004 in the men’s double trap. Abhinav Bindra claimed India’s only gold medal in shooting in the men’s 10m air rifle at Beijing 2008. Gagan Narang (men’s 10m air rifle) and Vijay Kumar (men’s 25m rapid fire pistol) won silver and bronze, respectively, at the London 2012 Games.
On Saturday, Manu Bhaker stormed into the final of the women’s 10m air pistol event after finishing third in the qualifying round, becoming the first Indian woman to make an Olympic shooting final in 20 years. Hungary’s Veronika Major, who topped the qualifying round, was the first to be eliminated in the final.
Manu Bhaker will also compete in the 10m air pistol mixed team event on Monday and the women’s 25m pistol event, scheduled to start on Friday. She is the only athlete from the 21-member Indian shooting team to participate in multiple individual events.
