Manu Bhaker OLY, the Indian sports shooter, made history at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris by winning two bronze medals, becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic shooting medal and the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals in a single games. Prior to this, she won gold at the 2022 Asian Games and the 2018 Commonwealth Games, as well as becoming the youngest Indian to claim gold at the 2018 ISSF World Cup.
PERSONAL LIFE
Bhaker, born in Goria Village, Haryana, comes from an educationalist family. She completed her education at Lady Sri Ram College in New Delhi. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Public Administration and engaging in sports training at DAV College in Chandigarh. She has excelled in sports such as tennis, skating, Manipuri martial art thang ta, and boxing. At 14, she decided to focus on competitive shooting with support from her father. She prefers fruits and fresh raita as dietary staples and enjoys Churma as a dessert.
CAREER
In 2016, Bhaker started training with her coach Anil Jakhar and won the silver at the 2017 Asian Junior Championships. At the 2017 National Games, she won nine gold medals and broke Heena Sidhu’s record. In the 2018 ISSF World Cup, she won gold in the Women’s 10-meter air pistol event and also secured another gold in the 10-meter Air Pistol mixed team event with Om Prakash Mitharval.
Bhaker won her second gold medal at the World Cup in the 10m Air Pistol mixed team event alongside Om Prakash Mitharval, scoring 476.1 points to defeat Sandra Reitz. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Bhaker won gold in the women’s 10m air pistol event with a record score of 240.9 points after qualifying with 388/400. Although she set an Asian Games qualification record of 593 points in the 25m Air Pistol event, she finished 6th, with compatriot Rahi Sarnobat winning gold.
At the 2018 Youth Olympics, 16-year-old Manu Bhaker won gold in the women’s 10m air pistol event with a score of 236.5, becoming the first Indian shooter and female athlete to win gold at the Youth Olympics. A flag bearer at the opening ceremony, she was mentored by national coach Jaspal Rana, who praised her mental strength and saw her as a contender for the 2020 Olympics. In February 2019, Bhaker also won gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the ISSF World Cup in Delhi.
In May 2019, Manu Bhaker qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 10m pistol event after finishing fourth at the Munich ISSF World Cup. This followed a setback when her pistol jammed in the 25m event finals, forcing her to forfeit while leading. Despite this, Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhry won gold in the 10m air pistol mixed event at all four ISSF World Cups in 2019, establishing themselves as strong contenders for the 2020 Olympics.
SPORTS 2021-2024
At the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, Manu Bhaker encountered multiple challenges, including a pistol malfunction, which caused her to miss the finals in both the 10m and 25m air pistol events. She partnered with Saurabh Chaudhary in the mixed 10m air pistol team, where they finished the qualifying round with the highest score but ultimately placed eighth in the next round, missing the finals. Bhaker bounced back at the 2022 Asian Games, winning a team gold in the women’s 25m pistol event alongside Esha Singh and Rhythm Sangwan. In 2023, she reunited with her former coach, Jaspal Rana, to prepare for the 2024 Olympics, with Rana implementing a rigorous training regimen that mimicked Olympic-level competition. The decision to bring Rana back was supported by IOC president PT Usha.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Manu Bhaker made history by winning two bronze medals. She first claimed bronze in the women’s 10-meter air pistol, becoming the first Indian female shooter to win an Olympic medal. She then secured another bronze in the mixed 10-meter air pistol team event with Sarabjot Singh, becoming the first Indian to win two Olympic medals since independence. Bhaker credited her coach, Jaspal Rana, for her success.
