On Day 4 of the Olympic Games in Paris, Manu Bhaker, India’s top shooter, has the potential to make history by being the first athlete from the post-independence era to win two medals in a single campaign.
Manu Bhaker, an outstanding shooter from India, made history in the Paris Olympics 2024 by being the first female medal winner in the sport in her own nation. She achieved this in the bronze medal-winning women’s individual 10m air pistol final. In the mixed team 10m air pistol final on Tuesday, Manu and her partner Sarabjot Singh have the potential to make even more history if they win another bronze. In the event that Manu secures a further bronze medal, she will make history as the first athlete from Independent India to win two medals at the same Olympics.
In the history of the Games, which were held in 1900 while India was ruled by the British, Norman Pritchard is the only Indian athlete to have achieved this feat. Nothing Indian athlete has ever done in a single campaign has won two medals except for Pritchard.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Sushil won a bronze medal. In London, he won a silver medal. By winning multiple Olympic medals in two separate campaigns, he became the first Indian individual athlete to do so since after independence.
Spain’s Carolina Marin defeated shuttler Sindhu in the final to claim silver in the Rio Olympics. In badminton at the Olympics, it was India’s first silver medal.
In Tokyo 2020, Sindh went on to win bronze. Though she competed in two different Olympic Games, Sindhu is the only Indian female athlete to win multiple medals.
Bhaker’s situation differs significantly from Shushil’s and Sindhu’s since she has the potential to become the first Indian medallist at the same Olympic Games since independence.
In the bronze-medal match, Oh Ye Jin and Lee Wonho of Korea will compete against Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh. With a combined score of 580 in the qualification, Manu and Sarabjot placed third, while the Korean pair finished in fourth place with a score of 579. Day 4 of the Olympic Games is when the Indian pair hopes to replicate their qualifying success.
