Manu Bhaker becomes India's first-ever female shooter with Olympic medal
Indian shooter Manu Bhaker has secured India's first medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 22-year-old finished third in the women's 10m air pistol final. With a tally of 221.7 points, the Indian youngster has claimed India's fifth medal in shooting and the 36th overall at the Olympic Games. Notably, she was the second-youngest athlete in the eight-woman field in the final.
Bhaker enters record books
As mentioned, Bhaker has claimed the fifth Olympic medal for India in shooting. However, she is the first-ever woman to claim an Olympic medal in shooting. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (silver medal at 2004 Athens), Abhinav Bindra (gold medal at 2008 Beijing), Vijay Kumar (silver medal at 2012 London), and Gagan Narang (bronze medal at 2012 London) are India's other medalists in the sport.
Bhaker brings home bronze medal
Bhaker finishes third in final standings
As mentioned, Bhaker tallied a total of 221.7 points in the women's 10m air pistol final. She was only behind Korea's Oh Ye Jin (243.2) and Kim Yeji (241.3) in the final standings. The Korean duo win the gold and silver medals, respectively.
India's 36th medal at Olympics
As mentioned, this marks India's 36th medal at the Olympics. It is worth noting that shooting is only the second sport where India has five-plus medals at the Olympics. India owns seven medals in wrestling.
Achievements of Bhaker in shooting
Besides winning the historic Olympic medal, Bhaker also won two gold medals at the 2018 ISSF World Cup. She became the youngest Indian to do so. Bhaker also secured the gold medal at 2018 Commonwealth Games at 16. It was her maiden CWG appearance. Bhaker also claimed the gold medal (team event) at the 2022 Asian Games, along with Esha Singh and Rhythm Sangwan.
