Paris Olympics 2024: Manu Bhaker Wants ‘Good Indian Food’ and ‘Can’t Wait to Meet’ Her

Manu Bhaker’s achievements at the 2024 Paris Olympics will go down as one of the best by an Indian at the Summer Games. The 22-year-old though is just looking forward to coming back home to her family in India and have some ‘good home Indian food’.

“I would be happy to eat some good Indian food, it’s been a while now,” Manu told CNN-News18 exclusively.

“I can’t wait to meet all of them (family),” she added.

Manu has earned herself a three-month break after becoming the first Indian to win two medals at the same Olympics after Independence.

With two bronze medals in a span of three days, Manu has entered a rather tiny list of sporting greats in India. There was a strong possibility of adding a third medal on Saturday but she finished fourth in the 25m pistol final.

Following her historic 10m pistol bronze, Manu was able to keep razor-sharp focus to pocket another medal in the mixed team pistol event alongside Sarabjot Singh. There was no change in intensity as she chased a third medal on Saturday.

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When asked what was the secret behind her success, she said: “Consistency is one element that kept me going throughout the years. You have to be regular with your activities.”

Asked about her performance, Bhaker said: “I am really happy about my performance. Everywhere I shot really good.”

Manu had a lot to prove as she headed into the 2024 Games after having a heartbreaking campaign in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“Tokyo taught me many lessons. Loss teaches you. Tokyo was a tough time for me,” she said.

The list of records broken by Manu kept growing throughout the tournament. She became the first women shooter to win a medal for India, she became the first Indian athlete to win two medals in a single edition after Independence, along with Sarabjot Singh, the duo also brought home India’s first-ever medal in a shooting team event.

Her personal coach Jaspal Rana was by her side at all times at the shooting range and one can trust the hard taskmaster to keep Manu grounded at least till the time they are together.

Asked about the Indian shooting and its trajectory after Bhaker’s historic achievement, Rana said: “Its all mighty direction. We are coming back with 2 medals.”

“If you watch her it was outstanding and superb,” he added.

Even though she is done with her competition, Manu may just have to stick around in Paris for a while. She may just be announced as India’s flagbearer for the closing ceremony.

When asked about the possibility, she said: “I am not aware of this. I cannot comment on it.”

(With inputs from Agencies)

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