On Tuesday, Indian shooter Manu Bhaker made history by becoming the first Indian woman to win two medals at a single Olympic Games. Bhaker, alongside her partner Sarabjot Singh, secured a bronze medal in the 10 m air pistol mixed team event. Earlier in the competition, Bhaker had already won a bronze medal in the women’s individual 10 m air pistol event.
In the bronze medal match, Manu and Sarabjot defeated South Korea’s Lee Wonho and Oh Ye Jin with a score of 16-10. This victory brings India’s medal count at the Paris Olympics to two. Both Bhaker and Sarabjot delivered impressive performances, consistently scoring high with regular 10s.
Bhaker’s achievement makes her the first athlete from independent India to earn two medals in the same edition of the Olympics. The last instance of an Indian winning two medals in the same Olympics was in 1900 when Norman Pritchard won two silver medals in the 200 m and 200 m hurdles.
Additionally, Bhaker and Singh’s bronze in the mixed team event marks India’s first-ever team medal in shooting at the Olympics. Bhaker joins an elite group of athletes with multiple Olympic medals, including PV Sindhu, who won a silver at Rio 2016 and a bronze at Tokyo 2020, and Sushil Kumar, who earned a bronze in wrestling at Beijing 2008 and a silver at London 2012.
Earlier on Monday, Manu and Sarabjot scored a total of 580-20x points to finish third. The gold medal match will feature Turkiye and Serbia. In the qualification round for the mixed team 10 m air pistol event, each team member had 30 shots over 30 minutes. Manu and Sarabjot finished with a combined total of 580-20x, securing their place in the medal rounds.
