Manu Bhaker became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic bronze medal in shooting at the Paris 2024 Olympics in the women’s 10m air pistol category. This was India’s first medal at the Paris Olympics and the first medal in shooting since the 2012 London Olympics. It was a long wait for India, as the country hadn’t won a shooting medal in the last two Olympics, making this a significant achievement. In 2012, India had won medals when Vijay Kumar secured a silver medal in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event, and 10m air rifle marksman Gagan Narang won a bronze medal. Manu, just 22 years old, scored 221.7 points to win the bronze, making India proud.
Manu Bhaker participated in the last Olympics, held in Tokyo in 2020, but due to her pistol malfunctioning, her performance was affected, and she couldn’t make it to the finals. This disappointment motivated her to work very hard, leading to her bronze medal win at the Paris Olympics 2024. She was very close to winning the silver medal, but in the last rounds, she finished in third place, securing the bronze medal. Kim Yegi from South Korea won the silver medal, and Oh Ye Jin from South Korea won the gold medal.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was very happy with this achievement and called Manu Bhaker personally, despite his busy schedule, to congratulate her on this significant accomplishment in the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics. Modi expressed his pride by saying, “You have made your country proud.”
