Year Ender: Manu Bhaker scripts history with two Olympic medals
Shooter Manu Bhaker was the star of India's 2024 Paris Olympics campaign. The Indian contingent finished the event with six medals, out of two were clinched by Bhaker - both bronze. She narrowly missed out on a medal in the women's 25m pistol main event, having finished fourth. As the year is about to end, let's revisit Manu's memorable Olympic campaign.
Bhaker's historic achievements at Paris Olympics
Manu became India's first-ever athlete to win multiple medals at an Olympic edition post independence. She finished third in the women's 10m air pistol final and clinched a bronze medal, becoming the first-ever Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in shooting. Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh also won another bronze in the 10m air pistol mixed team event after defeating Korea's OH Ye Jin and LEE Wonho.
Women's 10m air pistol final
Manu secured India's first medal with a third-place finish in the women's 10m air pistol final. With a tally of 221.7 points, the youngster became the first-ever Indian woman to claim an Olympic medal in shooting. She was only behind Korea's Oh Ye Jin (243.2) and Kim Yeji (241.3) in the final standings. Notably, the 22-year-old was the second-youngest athlete in the eight-woman field in the final.
Multiple medals for Manu
India won their second medal at the Paris Games when Manu and Sarabjot Singh prevailed in the 10m air pistol mixed team bronze medal match. The duo won the coveted medal after beating the Korean duo of OH Ye Jin and LEE Wonho. With this, Manu became India's first-ever athlete to win multiple medals at an Olympics post independence.
Third Indian with multiple individual medals
Manu became only the third Indian to win multiple individual medals at the Olympics (post independence). She joined wrestler Sushil Kumar (gold in Beijing 2008 and silver in London 2012), and shuttler PV Sindhu (silver in Rio 2016 and bronze in Tokyo 2020). Ace Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra later joined this list, having claimed gold in Tokyo 2020 and silver in Paris 2024.
A fourth-place finish as well
As mentioned, Manu missed out on a medal in the women's 25m pistol main event. She finished fourth after losing a shootoff with Veronica Major for an assured medal after both were tied. The youngster joined the likes of Joydeep Karmakar (London 2012), Abhinav Bindra (Rio 2016) and Arjun Babuta (Paris 2024) to finish fourth in an Olympic shooting final.
