“You’ve made India proud” - Gautam Gambhir congratulates Manu Bhaker on Paris 2024 Olympics bronze medal

The newly appointed Indian cricket team head coach, Gautam Gambhir, congratulated Manu Bhaker on Sunday for winning a bronze medal in the women's 10 meter air pistol event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Bhaker made India proud by becoming the first female shooter in the country to win a medal in the Olympics. She came in third behind the South Korean duo of Oh Ye Jin and Kim Ye Ji.

“Congratulations #ManuBhaker on getting India’s first medal! You’ve made India proud!” Gambhir wrote on the social media platform X.

Gautam Gambhir was recently selected as the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team in all formats.

Manu Bhaker overcomes Tokyo nightmare to win bronze medal at Paris 2024 Olympics

Despite failing to clinch the top prize, Manu Bhaker made history by winning India’s first shooting medal in the Olympic Games after 12 years.

Her groundbreaking victory led to an outpouring of support from several icons on social media, including the Prime Minister and cricketing icons like Gambhir, Tendulkar, Mithali Raj, and Ravi Shashtri, among others.

For Bhaker, the bronze medal win on Sunday was the final part of her redemption arc from the last Olympic Games. Manu Bhaker, a nine-time World Cup medalist, appeared at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as a medal hopeful, but her appearance turned into a debacle as her gun malfunctioned.

The incident had a scarring effect on Bhaker, who was left in tears. But her perseverance and determination bore fruit as she stood on the podium in Paris, holding the bronze medal.

In the other shooting prospects for India, Elavenil Valarivan finished in a disappointing 10th place after a poor final shot resulted in Olympic heartbreak.

Arjun Babuta finished in the seventh spot in the men’s 10m air rifle qualification and will feature in the finals on Monday. Sandip Singh, however, failed to make the cut in the same event.

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