Bhaker competed in three events during the Olympics. She won bronze in the women’s individual 10m air pistol and another bronze in the mixed team 10m air pistol with Sarabjot Singh.
Digital Desk: Manu Bhaker, India’s standout performer at the Paris Olympics, will be the country’s flag bearer at the closing ceremony, according to reports. The news agency ANI has confirmed through IOC sources that Bhaker, who secured two bronze medals at the Paris Games, will represent India as the female flag bearer on August 11. The male flag bearer has not yet been announced.
Bhaker competed in three events during the Olympics. She won bronze in the women’s individual 10m air pistol and another bronze in the mixed team 10m air pistol with Sarabjot Singh. However, she narrowly missed out on a medal in the 25m pistol event. Despite being close to the medal positions, Bhaker struggled in the later series and was eventually edged out in a shoot-off against Hungary’s Veronica Major, missing out on a potential historic treble.
Bhaker has made history as the first Indian athlete post-independence to win two medals in a single Olympic Games. The only other Indian to achieve two medals in the Olympics is Norman Pritchard, who won silver in the men’s 200m and 200m hurdles at the 1900 Paris Olympics.
Bhaker now joins PV Sindhu and Sushil Kumar in the elite group of Indian athletes with two Olympic medals. Sindhu won a silver in women’s singles badminton at the Rio 2016 Olympics and a bronze in Tokyo 2020, while Sushil Kumar earned a bronze in wrestling at the 2008 Beijing Games and a silver at the 2012 London Olympics.
At the opening ceremony, Sindhu was India’s flag bearer alongside Sharath Kamal. Although Sindhu was eliminated in the Round of 16, and Sharath was knocked out in the men’s singles table tennis event, he will have another opportunity in the men’s team event, which starts on August 6.
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