Manu Bhaker won first medal for India at Paris Olympic Games 2024 by winning the bronze in women’s 10m air pistol individual event on Sunday (Jul 28). With the win, she became the first Indian woman to win a shooting medal at quadrennial games.
Manu shot a total score of 221.7 in 20 shots as South Korean duo of Oh Ye Jin and Kim Yeji won gold and silver, respectively.
Before Manu, Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore, Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang and Vijay Kumar had won a medal in shooting for India.
This is India’s first shooting medal at the Olympic games since winning two medals, a silver and a bronze, at 2012 London Olympics.
Narang had won a bronze in men’s 10m air rifle while Vijay had won a silver in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol at London games.
Before them, Bindra had won a gold in men’s 10m air rifle at 2008 Beijing games – the first individual gold medal at Olympic games. Since then, only Neeraj Chopra has won an individual gold for India – in men’s javelin throw event at 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Rathore, meanwhile, was the first medal winner for India in shooting – grabbing a silver medal in men’s double trap event at 2004 Athens Olympics.
“After Tokyo, I was very disappointed. It took me a long time to get over that,” Bhaker said on Jio Cinema after her win.
“So really grateful that I could win bronze, maybe (it will be) better next time. I feel great. This medal was long due for India. It feels surreal. India deserves many more medals. As many as possible. The feeling is really surreal, it takes a lot of effort,” she added.
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.