Manu Bakel wins bronze medal in the 10m air pistol event © X (Twitter)
Following Manu Bakel’s historic bronze medal win at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics, Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated her on her victory and revealed the efforts and costs that go behind her training. Bakel placed third in the women’s air pistol final on Sunday and won the bronze medal, making her the first Indian woman to win a medal in Olympic shooting.
Speaking to ANI after her win, Mandaviya said, “Manu Bhakar has made India proud by winning the first ever bronze medal at the Paris Olympics. At the interacting session, she said that she is a part of ‘Khelo India’. I am happy that PM Modi has launched ‘Khelo India’ under which sports infrastructure will be developed in the country, sports competitions will flourish and projects have been floated to identify sports talent at school and college level. Highly qualified coaches will be hired to train the identified talents, they will be provided with good training and arrangements have been made under the TOPS scheme to ensure that they do not face any financial constraints.”
Mandaviya said around Rs 2 crore has been spent on Manu’s training and he has been sent to Germany and Switzerland for training, and expressed confidence that the other athletes would also perform well in the Olympics.
“Around Rs 2 crore was spent on Manu Bhakar’s training. She was sent to Germany and Switzerland for training. Necessary financial assistance was also provided to hire a coach of her choice. We are providing this ecosystem to all our athletes so that they can perform at their best in national and international competitions. I am confident that our athletes will also perform well in the Paris Olympics,” he added.
Talking about the shooting and archery competitions being held today, Manavya added, “Shooting and archery competitions will be held today. We should all take to social media with #CheerForBharat to encourage and motivate the athletes. I hope the athletes perform well.”
Bhakar, along with Saradjot Singh, will compete again in the 10m air pistol mixed team competition qualification round from 12:45 pm onwards.
Indian shooters Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta, along with the men’s archery team, will aim to add to the country’s medal tally at the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympics on Monday.
On Sunday, Ramita placed fifth in the qualifying round and qualified for the women’s 10m air rifle final, while Arjun placed seventh in the men’s event. According to Olympics.com, the top eight athletes from both qualifying rounds will advance to the final, which is scheduled for today.
Also, the men’s archery team (Dheeraj Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav) will face either Turkey or Colombia in the quarter-finals at 6:31 pm. The medal round for this category will be held today.
Bhakkar won the bronze medal with a score of 221.7 points, giving India its first medal at the ongoing mega event.
It was a revenge story for Manu after her pistol malfunctioned at the Tokyo Olympics. She created history by becoming the first Indian woman to reach an individual Olympic shooting final in 20 years since Suma Sirul in 2004.
South Korea’s Yejin won the gold medal with an Olympic record 243.2 points, while compatriot Kim Ye-ji took silver with 241.3 points.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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