Paris Olympics 2024: Manu Bhaker wins historic bronze in women's 10m air pistol, brings India's first medal in games

The achievement made Bhaker the first Indian woman to win a medal in shooting at the Olympic Games.

The medal came after a 12-year drought since Gagan Narang won a bronze, India’s last medal in shooting at the 2012 London Olympics.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to congratulate Manu on the momentous win.

He wrote: "A historic medal! Well done, @realmanubhaker, for winning India’s FIRST medal at #ParisOlympics2024! Congrats for the Bronze. This success is even more special as she becomes the 1st woman to win a medal in shooting for India. An incredible achievement! Bhaker began strongly in the first series, scoring 50.2 from her five shots, propelling her to second place, just behind South Korea's Ye Jin Oh, who led with an impressive 52.2."

Maintaining her composure, Bhaker nearly replicated her performance in the second series, scoring 50.1, bringing her total to 100.3 points.

Former shooter Abhinav Bindra, who won the country's first individual Gold medal in Beijing in 2008, also congratulated Bhaker.

However, South Korea's Ye Jin Oh and Kim Yeji surpassed Bhaker, pushing her into third place by the end of the five-shot series.

A tight competition unfolded among the top three shooters, with Bhaker, Ye Jin, and Kim exchanging positions throughout Stage 2, where single shots were taken.

In a dramatic 21st shot, Bhaker momentarily moved ahead of Kim Yeji by 0.1 points after securing a medal position.

However, Kim Yeji reclaimed the lead with the 22nd shot, overtaking Bhaker by another narrow margin of 0.1 points to secure second place.