Manu Bhaker became India’s first woman shooter to win a medal at prestigious Olympic games. The 22-year-old reached the milestone with a bronze in women’s 10m air pistol event on Sunday (Jul 28) at ongoing Pairs Olympics 2024.
The medal was also India’s fifth in shooting and first since 2012 London Olympics where Gagan Narang and Vijay Kumar had won a bronze and a silver, respectively.
Here’s all you need to know about Manu Bhaker
Who is Manu Bhaker?
Bhaker is a shooter from the city of Jhajjar in India’s northern state of Haryana. She took up shooting at the age of 14 in 2016 and quickly rose through the ranks.
How did she qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024?
Bhaker qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024 after finishing fifth in women’s 25m pistol event at the 2023 Asian Shooting Championship.
What was Manu Bhaker’s Olympic record before winning bronze at Paris Olympic Games 2024?
Manu had previously participated in 2021 Tokyo Olympics as well but failed to make any impact. Her gun developed technical snag in the 10m air pistol event qualifying round and she failed to advance to the final round.
In the mixed 10m air pistol event she finished seventh with partner Saurabh Chaudhary despite topping stage 1 of the qualification round.
She also failed to make it to the final round in the 25m pistol event as well.
What are Manu Bhaker’s other achievements?
Manu Bhaker won a gold medal on her International Sport Shooting Federation (ISSF) debut in 2018.
Bhaker also won gold medal at 2018 Commonwealth Games in 10m air pistol event in Gold Coast.
In 2018, she also became first Indian shooter and female athlete to win a gold medal at Youth Olympics.
In 2019, Bhaker won mixed team gold medals at all three ISSF World Cup with Saurabh Chaudhary and won the gold at both mixed and individual event in ISSF World Cup final in China.