The Story Of Manu Bhaker: The First Indian Woman Shooter To Win An Olympic Medal

We credit women so little for their work in sports and similar fields, that it becomes almost important to celebrate every single victory that comes their way. Today, we must talk about Manu Bhaker, even if it means re-iterating her work, journey and win. The Olympian shooter won two medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Since her win, the nation is only elated and there is a lot of hope for the rest of the games.

However, Manu Bhaker has had a journey that is just more proof of the amount of work it takes to represent your country in sports. Hers began as an all-rounder athlete in school, excelling in tennis, skating, boxing, and martial arts at a national level. However, she switched to shooting at the age of fourteen, shortly after the 2016 Rio Olympics.

At the 2017 National Shooting Championships, Manu stunned everyone by beating Olympian and former world No. 1 Heena Sidhu with a record score of 242.3, securing the gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol final. She continued to succeed in the sport, as she won a silver medal at the 2017 Asian Junior Championships. There was clearly no stopping from there.

In her first appearance at the International Sport Shooting Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico, Bhaker broke the junior world record during the qualification rounds and easily progressed to the final of the women’s 10m Air Pistol event. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, Manu set a new Games record, earning the gold medal in the women’s 10m Air Pistol event.

With a constant streak of wins, there were a lot of expectations attached to Manu’s work. It comes with the fact that in associating all these expectations with one person, we end up putting overbearingly high pressure on them. And we tend to account for any possibility of failure, which is very plausible. Something similar happened during Bhaker’s Olympic debut. During the 10m air pistol qualification, Manu’s pistol malfunctioned, requiring her to temporarily leave the competition for repairs. Even with a replacement pistol, her streak was interrupted, and had only 36 minutes left to complete her remaining 44 shots.

While the Tokyo Olympics left Bhaker with some sense of loss, the 2024 Olympics feels like a full circle moment. It is more proof that Manu Bhaker and her hardwork is something that requires constant mentioning, because she continued. It also means that this is not just about the wins or the medals, this is about being honest to what you love – it will mostly end up giving.