Manu Bhaker narrowly missed securing her third medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 25m pistol shooting event on August 3. The 22-year-old was aiming for a historic hat-trick of medals in a single Games edition.
Final Results
- Gold: Jiin Yang (South Korea)
- Silver: Camille Jedrzejewski (France)
- Bronze: Veronika Major (Hungary)
Bhaker had previously won bronze in both the 10m air pistol individual and mixed team events at Paris 2024, alongside Sarabjot Singh.
How Manu Bhaker Missed Out?
Bhaker had a challenging start with a low score of two points in the first series. Despite a strong recovery with scores of 4, 4, 3, 5, 4, and 4 in subsequent series, she initially moved into the top two positions but later dropped to a tied-third place after hitting only two of five targets in a later series.
The Shoot-Off Explained
With both Bhaker and Hungary’s Veronika Major tied at 28 points, a shoot-off was needed to determine the bronze medal winner. In this tiebreaker, each shooter takes a series of shots until one person is declared the winner.
In the decisive shoot-off, Bhaker hit three out of five targets, while Major hit four, securing the bronze medal for Hungary. Bhaker expressed her disappointment, saying, “I got nervous about it. I was trying my best to keep calm and tried to do my best but not enough.”
Despite falling short, Bhaker’s performance remains commendable as she continues to be a strong contender in international shooting sports.
