Manu Bhaker's Olympic Success Becomes Defining Moment For Indian Shooting In 2024

If ever there was proof needed that Manu Bhaker had prodigious talent, she provided it at the Paris Olympics with two bronze medals, scripting history in a year when shooting was as much about success as it was about missing medals by wafer-thin margins. Shooting is about individual glory and Manu took it to a different level by first finishing on the podium in 10m air pistol and then combining with an equally happy-go-lucky marksman Sarabjot Singh to clinch a second bronze in 10m mixed team to become India's first woman athlete with two medals in the quadrennial showpiece.

With a record 21 shooters in Paris, India finally ended nearly a decade-long medal drought in the sport, returning with three bronze, with the unassuming Swapnil Kusale, a TTE with Central Railways, finishing the campaign with a third-place finish in 50m rifle 3-positions.

The spotlight, though, was firmly on Manu following her Tokyo Games dejection three summers back, where a pistol malfunction had ended her hopes.

Manu confidently stepped into Chateauroux range on the outskirts of Paris as she gave a performance befitting a champion to end the country's medal drought.

The success was met with an outpouring of emotion for the champion and her coach Jaspal Rana, who had to go through nearly two years of trials and tribulations to achieve glory.

From being told to leave the shooting range due to a National Rifle Association of India SOP, to being forced to coach his ward from the spectators' gallery, Jaspal had to endure barbs and insults, which in a way steeled the duo to tackle the challenge in Paris head on.

The champion summed up her Paris success by saying that Jaspal was like a father figure who gave her a lot of courage whenever she felt unsure