Manu Bhaker of India narrowly missed securing her historic third medal at the Paris Olympics, finishing fourth in the women’s 25m air pistol event. Despite delivering a standout performance in the qualifying rounds, the 22-year-old shooter ended up in fourth place at the Chateauroux shooting range on Saturday.
Having already made history as the first Indian athlete to win two bronze medals in a single Olympic Games one in the 10m women’s air pistol and another in the 10m air pistol mixed team with Sarabjot Singh Manu’s impressive streak is marked by a remarkable composure and maturity beyond her years.
Manu Bhaker’s impressive feats have certainly elevated her status to one of India’s greatest Olympians, potentially the greatest. Her first final was aimed at addressing past mistakes from Tokyo, while a third medal would have forever enshrined her name in Olympic history. As of now, no Indian athlete has won three Olympic medals in individual events. The only Indian athletes with multiple individual Olympic medals since independence are wrestler Sushil Kumar (with bronze in Beijing and silver in London) and P.V. Sindhu (with silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo).
Manu, the second youngest Indian athlete to win an Olympic medal after shuttler Sindhu, has mentioned that she admires ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and Sindhu for having “proved themselves.” So far, India has secured all three of its medals in shooting, with Manu winning two and Swapnil Kusale earning the bronze in the 50m rifle three-positions event on Thursday.
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