Manu Bhaker Secures Historic Bronze in Women’s 10m Air Pistol at Paris 2024 Olympics
Manu Bhaker Clinches Bronze in Women’s 10m Air Pistol at Paris 2024
Indian shooter Manu Bhaker made history by winning the bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol event at the Paris 2024 Olympics, becoming the first Indian woman to secure an Olympic shooting medal. This accomplishment marks India’s fifth Olympic medal in shooting and the first medal at the Paris 2024 Games.
The 22-year-old Bhaker scored 221.7 points, securing third place in the eight-woman final. Oh Ye Jin from the Republic of Korea won the gold with a new Olympic record of 243.2 points, while her compatriot Yeji Kim took the silver with a score of 241.3 points, narrowly surpassing Bhaker by 0.1 points to enter the gold medal round.
Bhaker began the final strongly, scoring 50.4 in the first series, placing her second. A couple of 9.6s in the second series caused her to slip to third, trailing behind Oh Ye Jin and Yeji Kim. She managed to reclaim the second position briefly but was ultimately edged out by Yeji Kim.
Reflecting on her performance, Bhaker stated, “I just put all my effort into staying in the moment until the last second, just not giving up and keep trying harder and harder. Although the competition was neck-and-neck and I lost silver by .1, I’m still very grateful to win bronze for my country.”
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Bhaker faced a pistol malfunction that cost her six precious minutes, leading her to miss the final by just two points. Her resilience and determination were evident as she bounced back to achieve this historic feat at Paris 2024.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won India’s first Olympic medal in shooting with a silver in the men’s double trap at Athens 2004. Abhinav Bindra secured India’s only gold medal in shooting in the men’s 10m air rifle at Beijing 2008. Gagan Narang (men’s 10m air rifle) and Vijay Kumar (men’s 25m rapid fire pistol) won silver and bronze, respectively, at the London 2012 Games.
On Saturday, Bhaker stormed into the final of the women’s 10m air pistol event after finishing third in the qualifying round, becoming the first Indian woman to make an Olympic shooting final in 20 years. Hungary’s Veronika Major, who topped the qualifying round, 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.
Additional Highlights
Earlier in the day, Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta qualified for the finals in the women’s and men’s 10m air rifle events, respectively. Ramita, who won bronze at the Asian Games last year, finished fifth in the qualifying round with a score of 631.5. South Korea’s Hyojin Ban topped the qualification round with a Games’ record of 634.5. Elavenial Valarivan, who scored 630.7, missed the finals by 0.6 points.
In the men’s 10m air rifle event, Arjun Babuta scored 630.1 to secure seventh place in the qualification series, while Sandeep Singh, with a score of 629.3, finished 12th, missing out on the final.
