Manu Bhaker Wins Bronze, Becomes First Indian Woman to Secure Olympic Shooting Medal
Manu Bhaker made history on Sunday at the Paris 2024 Olympics by becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in shooting. Bhaker claimed the bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event with a score of 221.7 in the eight-woman final.
This victory marks India’s fifth Olympic medal in shooting. Previously, India secured shooting medals in three consecutive Olympics from Athens 2004 to London 2012 but missed out in the subsequent two editions.
The gold medal was won by Oh Ye Jin of the Republic of Korea, who set a new Olympic record with a score of 243.2. Her compatriot, Yeji Kim, won silver with a score of 241.3, narrowly edging out Bhaker.
Bhaker started the final strong, scoring 50.4 in the first series to secure second place. However, a couple of 9.6s in the second series saw her drop to third behind Oh Ye Jin and Yeji Kim. Despite reclaiming the second spot briefly, Bhaker finished third as Yeji Kim outscored her by 0.1 point to advance to the gold medal round.
Reflecting on her journey, Bhaker’s performance at Tokyo 2020 had seen her miss the final due to a pistol malfunction. This time, she overcame that past disappointment to secure a place on the podium.
India’s first Olympic shooting medal was won by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who took silver in men’s double trap at Athens 2004. Abhinav Bindra won India’s only gold medal in shooting in the men’s 10m air rifle at Beijing 2008. At London 2012, Gagan Narang and Vijay Kumar won silver and bronze in men’s 10m air rifle and men’s 25m rapid fire pistol, respectively.
Manu Bhaker entered the women’s 10m air pistol final after finishing third in the qualifying round on Saturday. Hungary’s Veronika Major, who topped the qualifiers, was the first to be eliminated in the final.
Bhaker will also compete in the 10m air pistol mixed team event on Monday and the women’s 25m pistol event starting on Friday. She is the only athlete from the 21-member Indian shooting team participating in multiple individual events.
In other news, Ramita Jindal qualified for the women’s 10m air rifle final by finishing fifth in the qualifying round earlier in the day. The 20-year-old, who won bronze at the Asian Games last year, scored 631.5 to secure her spot. The final is scheduled for Monday.
The Republic of Korea’s Hyojin Ban topped the qualification round with a record score of 634.5. India’s Elavenial Valarivan narrowly missed qualification, finishing 10th with a score of 630.7.
