Manu Bhaker’s family celebrates historic medal at Paris Olympics 2024: ‘In the remaining events she will…’

Manu Bhaker made history on Sunday by becoming the first Indian woman shooter to win an Olympic medal, securing bronze in the 10m Air Pistol event at the Paris Games. Her victory not only marked India's first medal of the Paris Olympics but also ended a 12-year wait for a shooting medal on the global stage.

The 22-year-old Manu Bhaker from Jhajjar, Haryana, secured the bronze medal in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol event with a score of 221.7. South Korea's Kim Yeji won the silver with a score of 241.3, while Jin Ye Oh, also from South Korea, took the gold with a Games record of 243.2.

Manu Bhaker's parents, grandmother, uncle hailed the Olympic medalist's victory and thanked India's residents for ‘blessing her’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also cheered Manu Bhaker for winning India's first medal at the Paris Olympics. "A historic medal! Well done, @realmanubhaker, for winning India's FIRST medal at #ParisOlympics2024! Congrats for the Bronze," Modi said in a post on X.

While talking to news agency PTI, Manu Bhaker's mother, Sumedha said, “I thank you all for supporting her, and I hope you all will continue to bless her”.

Bhaker's grandmother, Daya Kaur, also praised the resilient shooter, “She has my blessings”.

Olympic Medalist Shooter Manu Bhaker's father, Ram Kishan Bhaker also joined the wagon of ecstatic family members and said, “The entire country is proud of Manu, two of her events are remaining we expect her to perform better. Manu got a lot of support from the government and the federation. She could achieve this only because of the blessings of the people of the country. This is a huge achievement.”

An uncle of Manu Bhaker, Baljeet Singh, hoped that the shooter will be able to clinch gold medals in the next events. “We hoped for a gold medal but we are still happy. She is the youngest Indian woman to win a medal. She is very hard working. We hope in the remaining events, she will clinch gold medals,” said Baljeet Singh.

Manu Bhaker wins India's first Paris Olympics 2024 medal

Manu Bhaker ended India's 12-year wait for a shooting medal in the Olympics by becoming the first markswoman from the country to finish on the podium with a bronze in the 10m air pistol event of the Paris Games on Sunday.

India's last shooting medals at the Olympics were earned during the 2012 London Games, where Vijay Kumar won silver in the rapid-fire pistol event and Gagan Narang secured bronze in the 10m air rifle competition. Notably, Gagan Narang, who is now serving as the chef de mission for the Indian contingent at the Paris Olympics, was among the last Indian shooters to achieve such accolades.

Manu Bhaker, competing in her second Olympics, redeemed herself with a bronze medal after not securing any medals in the previous edition.

"After Tokyo I was very disappointed and it took me a very long time to overcome that. Frankly speaking, I really can't explain how good I am feeling today," PTI quoted Bhaker, whose Tokyo campaign had ended in tears after her pistol malfunctioned during the qualification of the same event, said with a wide smile on her face.