Manu Bhaker missed out on a historic third medal in a single Summer Olympics as she came fourth in the women’s 25m pistol event in the Paris Olympics in 2024. She lost the women’s 25-meter sports pistol bronze medal tie-shoot to Hungarian Veronika Major by the slimmest of margins at the Olympic Games in Chateauroux.
Bhaker gave it her all in an excellent final, briefly holding the top spot among the eight shooters, but she was unable to sustain her form and ultimately placed fourth, as per PTI.
After the eighth series of five shots, the amiable Indian tied for third place with Veronika after shooting 28 in the final. Bhaker packed up her gear and left her firing station as Veronika sank four shots into the target to secure third place. She had missed two of her five shots for a total of three points.
With her remarkable form, many expected Bhaker to win a hat-trick of medals. Despite falling to sixth place early in the final, she rose to the occasion.
Bhaker admitted at the end of the tournament that she was nervous and struggled to keep her cool. “I got like really nervous about it, but again, I was trying my best to keep calm and to just try to do my best. But that was not enough,” she said after the event.
Manu fired two straight “fours” to bring her point total to ten heading into the elimination round in the second and third series, following a disastrous first series in which she missed three of the five targets. She gradually decreased her flaws.
To put it mildly, the elimination round was a complete mess. Bhaker’s chances fluctuated until the seventh series, when she briefly topped the standings (fourth elimination round).
But Jin Yang of South Korea quickly regained the top spot, while Bhaker fell from second place to a tie for third with Veronika on 28 points after three rank-bad misses in the eighth round.
Both markswomen were nervous throughout the shoot-off; Bhaker scored three of her five clear shots, while Veronika had four.
The top shooter indicated that she will take a lot of lessons from her fourth-place finish and return stronger in 2028 for the Los Angeles Games.
“It (Olympics) turned out to be very good for me, but well, there’s always a next time so I’m already looking forward to the next one (in LA),” she said.
“I’m glad that I got two medals, but right now, I’m not very… well, fourth place is not a very good place,” said Manu with tears in her eyes.
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Source: TOI
