Paris Olympics 2024: Manu Bhaker Falters In Women 25m Pistol Final, Fails To Win A Medal By Finishing 4th

History was not meant to be for Indian shooter Manu Bhaker, who fell heartbreakingly short of winning a record third medal at the Paris Olympics 2024. After being in silver medal position for most of the women 25m pistol final on Saturday (August 3), a shocking slip in the crucial 8th series of shots where she scored only 2 points meant she was in a shootoff for 3rd and 4th position.

Nerves got the better of Manu Bhaker as she shot only 3 points as compared to Hungarian Veronika Major’s 4 in the shootoff to fall heartbreakingly short of a record third medal.

Manu started off slowly, scoring only 2 points in her first 5 shots. But came out swinging in the next two rounds of 5 shots each, scoring 4 points each in both of those rounds to take her total to 10.

After the first 15 shots, Manu Bhaker had shot up from 6th to 2nd place. In the fourth round of 5 shots, Manu slipped to 6th again, managing a score of only 3 for a total of 13.

However, a sensational 5 out of 5 in the 4th round with elimination looming propelled her to third position and in contention for a historic third medal. In the sixth series, Manu notched up another impressive 4 points to rise to 2nd spot again with a total of 22 points, two behind leader Jiin Yang from South Korea.

There were another 4 points in 7th round to take her total to 26 points as she remained in 2nd position just one behind Yang. A shocker in the 8th round with just 2 points meant she was in shootoff for 4th place with Hungary’s Veronika Major with 28 points.

25 M Women’s Pistol Final@realmanubhaker finishes her #Paris2024Olympics campaign, ends in 4th position with a total score of 28. She bows out in a shoot-off against Hungarian shooter Veronika Major.

Yesterday, she had become the first shooter from India to qualify for 3… pic.twitter.com/NVXWdSJTSN

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) August 3, 2024

Before Manu Bhaker, no Indian athlete has claimed more than one medal at the same Olympics. In the qualification on Friday, Bhaker shot a total of 590 (294 in precision, 296 in rapid) out of a possible 600 to reach her third final of this Olympics at second place.

Earlier in the Paris Olympics 2024, Bhaker had won bronze in the individual 10m air pistol competition and then combined with Sarabjot Singh to claim another third-place finish in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.

Bhaker’s second bronze had made her the first Indian after Independence to win two medals at the same Olympic Games.

South Korea’s Jiin Yang won the gold medal in the event, winning the shootoff against French shooter Camille Jedrzejewski with both finishing tied on 37 points. Major bagged the bronze medal with 31 points compared to Bhaker’s 28 in 4th place.