The 22-year-old shooter Manu Bhaker clinched a bronze medal in the women's 10m air pistol event at the Paris 2024 Olympics. This is India’s first medal at the games.
In the thrilling final, South Korea’s Ye Jin clinched the gold with an Olympic record score of 243.2 points, while her compatriot Kim Yeji secured the silver with 241.3 points.
Earlier, on the opening day of the competition, Bhaker finished third in the qualification round of the Women's 10 Metre Air Pistol, ensuring her spot in the final. Her compatriot Rhythm Sangwan, however, finished 15th and did not advance to the final.
Bhaker’s redemption arc came full circle at the Paris Olympics after experiencing a devastating pistol malfunction at the Tokyo Olympics, where she made history by becoming the first Indian woman in 20 years to reach an Olympic final in an individual shooting event since Suma Shirur in 2004
Bhaker will be seen in two more events in the days to follow at Olympics, where she will be expected better her record.
Background And Career
Born in Jhajjar, Haryana, a state renowned for producing top-notch boxers and wrestlers, Bhaker’s early foray into sports saw her excelling in tennis, skating, boxing and a martial art form called 'thang ta', where she won national-level medals. However, her destiny changed after the 2016 Rio Olympics when she impulsively decided to try shooting at just 14 years old. A week into her new interest, she requested her father, Ram Kishan Bhaker, for a sport shooting pistol. His support was unwavering, and the decision to buy her the pistol set Manu on the path to becoming an Olympian.
Bhaker burst onto the national scene at the 2017 national shooting championships, where she shot a record score of 242.3, defeating Olympian and former world No. 1 Heena Sidhu in the 10m Air Pistol final. She quickly followed this with a silver medal at the 2017 Asian junior championships.
Her international debut at the ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2018 was nothing short of spectacular. Bhaker broke the junior world record in the qualification rounds and won gold in the women's 10m Air Pistol final, defeating formidable opponents, including Olympic gold-medalist Anna Korakaki. At just 16, she became the youngest Indian to win a gold medal at an ISSF World Cup. She also won gold in the 10m Air Pistol mixed team event with Om Prakash Mitherval.
Bhaker continued her golden streak at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, setting a new Games record to clinch the women’s 10m Air Pistol gold. She made history again at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, by becoming the first Indian shooter and the first female athlete from the country to win a gold medal at the Youth Olympics.
Partnering with Saurabh Chaudhary, Bhaker won multiple mixed team gold medals at the 2019 ISSF World Cups and secured an Olympics quota with a fourth-place finish at the 2019 Munich ISSF World Cup. Despite her successful run, her debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was marred by equipment issues and unfulfilled potential.
Post-Tokyo, Bhaker regained her form, becoming the junior world champion in the women's 10m air pistol at Lima and consistently winning medals in the junior circuit. Her senior-level achievements include a women’s 25m pistol silver at the 2022 Cairo World Championships and a gold at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. She secured her place in Paris 2024 Olympics with a fifth-place finish in the women’s 25m pistol event at the Asian Shooting Championships 2023 in Changwon.
