Olympics 2024: Manu Bhaker Becomes The First Indian Woman Shooter to Win Medal, Know Biography, Age, Achievements, and More
Manu Bhaker Biography: As the Paris Olympics 2024 is currently ongoing with its Day 2 events, a good news has come for Indians as India bags her first medal in the Olympics 2024, with shooter Manu Bhaker winning the bronze medal in Women’s 10m air pistol event, making it a historical moment for the country. With this, she becomes the first-ever Indian female shooter to win a medal, all because of her determination and hard work. Korea's Kim Yeji took silver with a total of 241.3, while her compatriot Jin Ye Oh won gold with a Games record of 243.2.
The journey of Manu was full of patience and composure, she missed her chance at the Tokyo Olympics, but made a terrific comeback at the 2024 Olympics, making every Indian proud. Let us know more about her career, education, background, and more.
Early Life & Background
Manu Bhaker was born into a Hindu Jat family in Goria village, Jhajjar district, Haryana, and is best known for giving exceptional talents such as Geeta Phougat, Vijendar Singh, Sakshi Mallik, and others. Her father, Ram Kishan Bhaker, is a chief engineer in the Merchant Navy. Until the age of 14, she excelled in other sports such as Thang Ta, a martial art, boxing, tennis, and skating, winning medals at national competitions in each.
Manu Bhaker Shooting Career
Bhaker decided to pursue competitive shooting after her father bought a gun for her. She won her first medal, a silver medal at the 2017 Asian Junior Championships. Bhaker won nine gold medals at the 2017 National Games in Kerala, defeating multiple World Cup medalist Heena Sidhu and breaking her record of 240.8 points in the final.
2018 Records
The 2018 International Shooting Sports Federation World Cup was held in Guadalajara, Mexico. Bhaker won the gold medal in the Women’s 10-meter air pistol, defeating Mexico’s two-time champion Alejandra Zavala and becoming the youngest Indian to win a gold medal in the World Cup at the age of 16. Bhaker won her second World Cup gold medal in the 10-meter Air Pistol mixed team event alongside Prakash Mitharval, defeating Sandra Reitz and Christian Reitz.
A month later, at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, Manu Bhaker set a new Games record to win the women’s 10m Air Pistol gold. She went on to win another gold in the 10m Air Pistol at her second ISSF Junior World Cup, adding to her bronze in the mixed team event, while narrowly missing out on a medal in the 25m pistol event.
Though she did not win a medal at the 2018 Asian Games, Manu Bhaker finished the year by making history at the 2018 Youth Olympics Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She won gold in the 10m Air Pistol, making her the first Indian shooter and female athlete to do so at the Youth Olympics.
2019 Records
Manu then teamed up with Saurabh Chaudhary at the 2019 ISSF World Cup in New Delhi, where they won the mixed team gold medal. Manu Bhaker also won the individual and mixed team event gold at the World Cup final in China. Manu Bhaker also qualified for the Olympics after finishing fourth at the 2019 ISSF World Cup in Munich.
Tokyo Olympics 2020
She won gold and silver medals in the 10m Air Pistol at the 2021 New Delhi ISSF World Cup, as well as a bronze in the 25m Air Pistol, putting her among India’s medal contenders for the Tokyo Olympics.
However, Manu's pistol developed a snag in the middle of the 10m air pistol qualification, forcing her to forfeit because her gun would not fire. In her next 10m mixed event, Manu Bhaker teamed up with Saurabh Chaudhary, another teenager. Despite winning the first stage of qualification, the two could only finish seventh. Manu Bhaker’s Tokyo Olympics journey came to an end in the 25m pistol, where she failed to qualify for the final.
2022-2023
Manu Bhaker won silver in the women’s 25m pistol at the 2022 Cairo World Championships and gold in the same event at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, but her only individual senior victory came in the bronze medal round of the 2023 ISSF World Cup series in Bhopal.
