Manu Bhaker on 28th July, Sunday created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a medal in shooting at the Olympic Games.
She won the bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol Women’s event. She also claimed India’s first medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Manu Bhaker became the 1st Indian female shooter to reach the Olympic final of an individual event in the last 20 years!
The last time an Indian woman was in the final at an Olympics was when Suma Shirur had reached the final of the 10m Air Rifle event in Athens in 2004.
Manu Bhaker also became the first Indian woman to qualify for the 10m air pistol final round at any Olympics.
Manu had represented India at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but her campaign ended with a heartbreak as her gun malfunctioned during the event.
She wanted to quit sports after the 2020 Olympics. Her love for shooting brought her back to the game. She trained hard and participated in many international competitions representing India. Her hard work finally paid off at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Manu missed out on the silver medal by a very small margin. She maintained her position in the top three in the first two series.
Then began the elimination rounds. She missed out on the silver medal by just 0.1 points behind the eventual silver-medallist Kim Yeji in the 6th shoot-off.
The entire nation celebrates Manu’s performance and congratulates her on her first Olympic medal.
The 22-year-old has a long way to go and we will see her win many more medals in the upcoming competitions.
India has sent its largest shooting contingent to the Olympics this year and we hope to secure more medals in this sport.