Manu Bhaker won bronze in the women's 10m air pistol event at Paris 2024 on Sunday, breaking Indian shooting's 12-year Olympic medal drought. She finished third with a total of 221.7, just 0.1 points behind the eventual silver medallist Kim Yeji of South Korea, while compatriot Oh Yejin won gold.
The medal is both a personal redemption for Manu after a traumatic experience in Tokyo 2020. She'd suffered a weapons malfunction after a solid start in qualification of the 10m air pistol event and narrowly missed on the final, and couldn't make it to the medal matches in her other two events either. It's also the start of a possible revival for Indian shooting as a whole, its first Olympic medal since London 2012.
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Manu maintained a steady lead at the top throughout the first half of the final and did not give up her lead at any point. She started with a strong 10.6 and followed it with 10.2 but shot 9.5 on third. After the first series of five shots, she was placed second with a score of 50.4, behind Oh Yejin who was leading on 52.2.
After the second series (10 shots), she was third with a score of 100.3 after a couple of 9.6 shots, behind both the Koreans and 1.4 points behind the leader. She was placed well as the eliminations began and was back in second spot and only 0.6 points behind the leader after the next two shots.
However, she slipped to joint-third after a couple of 9.8 in the next two shots, about 1.1 behind the leader at 140.8.
MANU BHAKER WINS BRONZE!
She becomes the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in shooting! https://t.co/G1doesu8h9 | #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/14EQb4ZKKc
- ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) July 28, 2024
The next couple of shots were crucial and Manu was still in third and in podium position with five shooters left in the fray and a lead of 2.4 over her nearest rival. With four shooters left in the fray, Manu all but confirmed her Olympic medal with 10.1 which put her 2.6 points ahead of the fourth-placed shooter.
And with a shot of 10.0 Manu sealed her medal with the calm of a champion. At that stage she was 0.6 behind silver and 1.2 behind gold. Her next shot of 10.1 put her in silver position as Yeji hit a terrible 9.4. But the Korean recovered with 10.5, edging ahead of Manu by just 0.1 point.
After confirming her bronze, Manu spoke to the broadcasters about her bronze. "I put in a lot of effort; I was fighting with all the energy I had, even at the end," she said. "This is a bronze... but I'm happy I could win a bronze for the country"
Asked how she'd kept calm in the pressure zone of the medal shootoff, she said: "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."