Biggest honour is that I’ll forever be known as a Khel Ratna Awardee’: Manu Bhaker
New Delhi: After being bestowed with the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award from President Droupadi Murmu, Indian pistol ace Manu Bhaker said ‘the biggest honour is that I’ll always be known as a Khel Ratna Awardee’. Manu became the first Indian athlete to win twin medals in a single edition of the summer Olympic Games in Paris, following a double bronze in the 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team event.
“Khel Ratna is a big honour, the biggest honour is that I’ll forever be known as a Khel Ratna Awardee. Awards and honours like these will forever motivate me to strive and win more medals for the country,” Manu told IANS.
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award is India’s highest sporting honour.
After her heartbreaking Tokyo Olympics campaign, where she fell short of winning a medal due to a pistol malfunction, the 22-year-old Manu created history at the 2024 Paris Olympics, becoming the first Indian to win two medals in a single Olympic edition post-Independence.
She bagged her first medal at the Paris Olympics when she clinched the bronze in women’s 10m air pistol. Just days later, she teamed up with Sarabjot Singh to win bronze in the 10m air pistol mixed team event. “The way our country is progressing, the day we perform even better and win medals in double digits at the Olympics is not far. I am looking forward to that day, let’s all support the government, athletes, and upcoming stars,” she added.
Just days later, she teamed up with Sarabjot Singh to win bronze in the 10m air pistol mixed team event. She also came tantalizingly close to her historic third medal before finishing fourth in the women’s 25m pistol event. Manu was initially tied for third place with former world record holder (25m pistol) Veronika Major of Hungary before she dropped two points in the shoot-off series to hand the Hungarian a podium finish.
India accumulated six medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics with five bronze and one silver. The performance saw the nation end at 71st in the medal tally.