Star Indian shooter Manu Bhaker created history on Tuesday (July 30) by becoming the first athlete to win two Olympic medals in a single edition for independent India. The 22-year-old, who opened India’s medal account on Sunday (July 28) by winning the bronze medal in the women’s 10 m air pistol event, bagged the bronze medal in the 10 m air pistol mixed team event on Tuesday.
The Indian team of Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh managed to get the better of the South Korean pair of Wonho Lee and Ye Jin Oh in the bronze medal playoff match by a margin of 16-10.
Norman Pritchard was the first athlete to win two medals in the same Olympic Games for India. He achieved the feat during the 1900 Paris Olympics by winning silver medals in the 200-metre hurdles and 200-metre race.
A total of four Indian athletes—Pritchard, Sushil Kumar, PV Sindhu, and Bhaker—have managed to win two medals in the Olympics, but unlike Pritchard and Bhaker, Sushil and Sindhu finished on the podium in two different editions.
Sushil won a bronze medal for India in the wrestling event of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a silver medal in the 2012 London Olympics, whereas ace shuttler Sindhu won a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Games and settled for a bronze medal in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
The 22-year-old Haryana-born shooter will now have a chance to create history by becoming the first Indian to win three medals in a single edition when she participates in the 25-metre air pistol event.
