New Delhi [India], December 31 (ANI): 2024 turned out to be a game-changing 12 months for shooter Manu Bhaker, who created historical past on the Paris Olympics 2024 by successful two medals in capturing occasions, and turning into the primary Indian athlete within the post-independence period to realize this feat after Norman Pritchard in 1900.
Bhaker opened India’s medal tally on the Paris Olympics by securing third place within the girls’s particular person 10m air pistol occasion, turning into the primary Indian lady shooter to win an Olympic medal, including one other milestone to her already illustrious profession.
Following this, Bhaker, alongside Sarabjot Singh, clinched her second bronze within the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team occasion. The duo displayed distinctive consistency, defeating South Korea’s Lee Wonho and Oh Ye Jin with a rating of 16-10 within the bronze medal play-off match. Their victory marked India’s first-ever capturing workforce medal on the Olympics.
Despite narrowly lacking out on a historic treble by ending fourth within the girls’s 25m pistol occasion, Bhaker’s achievements in Paris cement her standing as essentially the most profitable Indian lady shooter in historical past. Her profession is already embellished with gold medals from the World Championships, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and Youth Olympic Games.
This success comes after the heartbreak of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the place a pistol malfunction denied Bhaker a shot at a medal in the identical occasion. Her resilience and dedication have now propelled her to the head of Indian capturing sports activities.
Born on February 18, 2002, in Jhajjar, Haryana, Bhaker initially pursued a wide range of sports activities, together with tennis, skating, and boxing. She additionally excelled in ‘thang ta’, a type of martial arts, successful medals on the nationwide degree earlier than dedicating herself to capturing.
India’s general efficiency on the Paris 2024 Olympics was commendable, securing a complete of six medals–one silver and 5 bronze. Swapnil Kusale contributed to the tally with a bronze medal within the males’s 50m rifle 3 positions occasion. The Indian males’s hockey workforce added to the medal rely by successful back-to-back bronze medals for the primary time in 52 years, defeating Spain 2-1.
In observe and area, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra narrowly missed defending his Tokyo gold medal, however he introduced house a silver with a throw of 89.45m. Wrestler Aman Sehrawat, making his Olympic debut, clinched a bronze medal with a 13-5 victory over Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz.
India’s spectacular haul on the Paris 2024 Olympics underscores the nation’s rising prowess in a various vary of sports activities, setting a promising precedent for future competitions. (ANI)