On Saturday, Manu Bhaker narrowly missed securing her third Olympic medal in Paris, finishing fourth in the women’s 25m pistol final with 28 points. Initially tied for third place with Hungary’s Veronika Major, a former World record holder in the event, Bhaker dropped two points in the shoot-off series, allowing Major to take the podium finish.
Yang Jiin of South Korea won the gold with 37 points after a shoot-off (4-1), while French shooter Camille Jedrzejewski claimed the silver. Manu Bhaker had advanced to her third final in the ongoing Summer Games by finishing second in the women’s 25m pistol qualification on Friday. This achievement makes her the only Indian shooter to reach more than one final at a single Olympics, with Abhinav Bindra being the only other Indian to have made three Olympic shooting finals, across three Games.
At 22 years old, Manu Bhaker had already won two bronze medals at Paris 2024 in the women’s 10m air pistol and mixed team 10m air pistol events. She achieved a score of 294 in the precision round and 296 in the rapid round, finishing with an overall score of 590.
In the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, a then 19-year-old Manu Bhaker failed to reach the finals in all three of her events. Now, she has emerged as the face of Indian shooting’s success in Paris.
