Ending a 12-year-drought for a medal in Shooting at the Olympics, Indian shooter Manu Bhaker has secured a Bronze medal in Paris under the category of 10 metres Air Pistol. This is India’s first medal in the ongoing games in Paris. The gold and silver medals went to shooters from South Korea.
Oh Ye Jin of South Korea finished on top of the podium with 243.2 points. Her teammate Kim Ye-ji finished second with 241.3 points and Manu finished third with 221.7 points. Manu, on her road to the finals, had finished third in the qualifying round. She became the first woman shooter from the country to reach the finals (after Suma Shirur, who qualified for the 10m air rifle finals at the 2004 Athens Olympics in Greece) and subsequently win the medal.
Terming it a historic medal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Manu for the bronze. He wrote on his social media account, "This success is even more special as she becomes the 1st woman to win a medal in shooting for India. An incredible achievement! (sic)"
It was redemption for Manu as she had failed to make it to the finals in Tokyo four years ago due to a pistol malfunction. The 22-year-old, who has won nine World Cup medals in the past, is the fifth Indian to win a medal in shooting. The other medallists are Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, Vijay Kumar, and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. The last time India reaped success in shooting was at the 2012 London Olympics, when Vijay Kumar secured a silver and Gagan Narang secured a bronze in their respective categories. Abhinav Bindra won gold in Beijing 2008.