On this day in 2024: Manu Bhaker scripts Indian Olympic history with second medal at Paris

Manu Bhaker is the first athlete from independent India to win two medals at the same Olympics.

July 30 — a historic day in Indian sports. On this day in 2024, star shooter Manu Bhaker created history at the Paris Olympics. She became the first athlete in independent India to win two medals at the same Olympics.

Bhaker, then 22 years old, not only secured a historic double medal but also opened India’s medal tally at the 2024 Paris Olympics, on the second day of the Summer Games in the French capital.

India, with a 117-member contingent, had hoped for a double-digit medal haul, but the campaign didn’t unfold as expected, as the country once again suffered with the familiar fourth-place curse.

Yet, it was shooting — the very sport that gave India its first-ever individual Olympic gold through Abhinav Bindra in Beijing 2008 — that kept the nation’s hopes alive.

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The Asian Games gold medallist finished third in the qualification round of the women’s 10m air pistol event and advanced to the final. On the second day of the Games, she clinched the bronze medal with a score of 221.7.

On Day 3, with India’s medal tally remaining at one, Bhaker, along with shooter Sarabjot Singh, qualified for the 10m air pistol mixed team final.

The next day, once again, Manu Bhaker, along with Sarabjot Singh, added to India’s medal tally by winning the bronze medal in the mixed team 10 metre air pistol event.

India ended the Paris Olympic Games 2024 with a total of six medals, three of which came from shooting — two by Manu (one individual and second in mixed team with Sarabjot Singh), and the third by Swapnil Kusale, who bagged bronze in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event.

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