Manu Bhaker won the Olympic Bronze medal at the Paris Olympics 2024. She won India's first medal at the ongoing quadrennial event. Bhaker finished third in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol Final at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, July 29.
The Sporting News looks at India's newest Olympic Medalist Manu Bhaker’s young career so far.
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Who is Manu Bhaker?
Manu Bhaker is a young shooter hailing from the Jhajjar district in Haryana. Bhaker started making a name for herself from a very young age. Bhaker was a sports enthusiast right from the beginning with an interest in multiple sports like martial arts, tennis, boxing, skating etc.
However it was shooting that piqued Bhaker’s interest the most, and this was when her love affair with the sport started. Bhaker became the first Indian woman to strike a medal at the Olympic Games for Shooting. She has followed the likes of fellow shooters, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Abhinav Bindra, Vijay Kumar, and Gagan Narang, to win an Olympic medal for India.
Manu Bhaker - Early Career
Manu Bhaker’s career kicked off at just 15 years of age as she tasted her first bit of success by winning the silver medal at the 2017 Asian Junior Championships.
She then went on to stun the former World No. 1 Heena Sidhu by beating her at the 2017 National Shooting Championships. Bhaker shot a record 242.3, smashing Sidhu’s record of 240.8 to win the final and the gold medal.
Building on her 2017 momentum, Bhaker further went on to win the gold medal at the International Sports Shooting Federation (ISSF) World Cup in 2018. She defeated two-time world champion Alejandra Zavala in the city of Guadalajara in Mexico. She shot a 237.5 to win the match against other favourites in her debut on the big stage.
Her success in Mexico made her the youngest ever Indian to win gold at the ISSF World Cup at just 16 years of age.
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Manu Bhaker at Paris Olympics
Manu Bhaker finished third with an aggregate points tally of 221.7, after 22 shots. She claimed bronze, after missing out on the Silver medal by the slenderest of margin, of 0.1 aggregate points. Manu's ride was on the high, as she was second before the final shot for the bronze.
In the final shot in the quest of the Bronze, Korean debutant Kim Yeji shot 0.2 points more than Indian youngster, resulting in a Bronze for Bhaker, and for India. She who was at the second position for a large part of the final, but eventually settled for Bronze.
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Manu Bhaker - List of achievements
Here’s a list of Manu Bhaker’s major achievements throughout a still very young career in shooting.
| Year | Event | Medal |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Youth Olympics - 10 m Air pistol | Gold |
| 2018 | ISSF World Cup - 10 m Air pistol | Gold |
| 2018 | ISS World Cup - Mixed 10 m Air pistol | Gold |
| 2019 | ISSF World Cup - 10 m Air pistol | Silver |
| 2021 | ISSF World Cup - 10 m Air pistol | Gold |
| 2024 | 2024 Paris Olympics - 10 m Air Pistol | Bronze |