Manu Bhaker Wins Bronze in Air Pistol in Paris to Earn India’s First Medal

Manu Bhaker ended India’s 12-year Olympic medal drought on Sunday as she took home the bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol competition at Paris 2024. With a total score of 221.7, she came in third place, trailing only Oh Yejin of South Korea, who went on to win the silver medal. Kim Yeji, another Korean, took home the gold.

For Manu, the medal represents both personal atonement following a horrific event in Tokyo 2020. After having a strong start in qualification for the 10m air pistol event, she just missed the final and was unable to advance to the medal matches in her other two events due to a weapons malfunction. It’s also the first Olympic gold for Indian shooting since London 2012, and perhaps the beginning of a comeback for the sport overall.

Manu led the field consistently and didn’t let up over the first part of the championship. She shot 9.5 in the third, although she had a good 10.6 in the first and 10.2 in the second. She finished the first set of five shots in second place, scoring 50.4, behind Oh Yejin, who had the highest score of 52.2.

He finished third with a score of 100.3 after two 9.6 strokes in the second series (10 shots), 1.4 points behind the leader and behind both Korean competitors. She was in a good position when the eliminations started, and after the following two shots, she was back in second place, just 0.6 points behind the leader.

But after two 9.8s in the following two shots, she dropped to joint-third, roughly 1.1 behind the leader at 140.8.

With five shooters remaining in the competition and an advantage of 2.4 over her closest competitor, Manu was still in third place and on the podium after the next two critical shots. With 10.1, Manu virtually assured herself of an Olympic medal with four shooters remaining in the competition, putting her 2.6 points ahead of the fourth-place shooter.

And with the composure of a winner, Manu clinched her medal with a shot of 10.0. She was 0.6 behind silver and 1.2 behind gold at that point. Yeji blasted a horrendous 9.4, but her subsequent shot of 10.1 left her in silver position. However, the Korean bounced back with a score of 10.5, just defeating Manu by 0.1.

Manu explained to the broadcasters about her bronze after confirming it. “I put in a lot of effort; I was fighting with all the energy I had, even at the end,” she explained. “This is a bronze… but I’m happy I could win a bronze for the country”

When asked how she managed her composure during the medal shootoff, they explained, “I read a lot of the Gita. As Lord Krishna says, ‘Focus on karma, not on the outcome of the karma.’ That’s what I did… I thought, ‘do your thing and let it all be.’ ”

“After Tokyo I was very disappointed…. however, I came back stronger. Let the past remain in the past.”