Indian shooter Manu Bhaker became the toast of the nation when she created history at the Paris Olympics 2024 sometime back. Manu, India's biggest medal hope in shooting, lived up to the expectations, returning with not one but two medals. By winning a bronze medal each in the women's 10m air pistol and mixed team event, she became the first Indian Olympian in history to clinch more than one medal at a single Games. Manu became an instant sensation, with fans adoring her for the outstanding show she put up in Paris; however, a little over a month later, the same fans have now started to take digs at the Olympian. Why? Because she carries her medals with her.
Manu, now a centre of attraction at a lot of events, has been attending various functions, where she is being felicitated. It is natural for her to be flaunting her medals as it's relevant to the occasion. And yet, some internet trolls are after her, singling her out, creating memes and sharing gifs because of her 'obsession' with medals and 'showing them off'. Manu, who once again finds herself in the middle of a melting pot – first for her equation with Neeraj Chopra and now this – finally broke silence on the matter and retaliated to this reaction from the public.
"I will, yeah! Why will I not?" Bhaker told Times of India. "Everyone has this feeling to show the medal which is why I carry it in case someone wants to see it. They even make a request saying, 'Please, bring your medal along' and when I do bring it, several pictures get snapped at these events."
{{/usCountry}}"I will, yeah! Why will I not?" Bhaker told Times of India. "Everyone has this feeling to show the medal which is why I carry it in case someone wants to see it. They even make a request saying, 'Please, bring your medal along' and when I do bring it, several pictures get snapped at these events."
{{/usCountry}}Manu posted about it on X as well on Wednesday, reasserting that the medals belong to the entire nation of India.
Manu opened India's medal tally at the Paris Olympics. She won two out of the six medals won by India at the Games, which proves the volume of her achievement. Manu came agonisingly close to landing a third medal but missed out on the hat-trick by finishing fourth in the 25m pistol category. After the result, Manu struggled to hold back tears and urged the public not to be upset with her.
Manu's redemption song
Paris 2024 was the ideal redemption song for Manu, who fumbled three years ago in Tokyo. Abhinav Bindra's gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, followed by Gagan Narang's bronze at the 2012 London Olympics, sparked hopes that India would soon become a shooting powerhouse, but it wasn't to be.
The failure to win a single medal in the 2016 and 2021 Olympics threatened to diminish the prominence of shooting in India, especially as badminton and hockey were making significant strides. When Manu took centre-stage in Tokyo, India hoped but a dreaded pistol malfunction reduced her to tears. It took Manu a long time to get over the heartbreak, but she channelled it and used the experience to come out on top this time around.
"I was very scared in Tokyo; very scared of disappointing people and I let that pressure get to me; get into my head. Because of which I lost out on the opportunity to even qualify for the finals. It took me a long time to overcome that but now I think the past is in the past. I have put it behind me. At Paris, I took many lessons from Tokyo, which is why I was able to get these two medals," Manu told The Hindustan Times last month.