Indian Shooter Manu Bhaker Cites Bhagavad Gita After Historic Podium Finish in Paris

India’s Manu Bhaker drew inspiration from the Bhagavad Gita after her historic podium finish in the women’s 10m air pistol event in Paris on Sunday, July 28.

The 22-year-old from Haryana scored 221.7 points in the final at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre, securing a spot on the podium. Despite struggling in the early rounds to stay in the top three, Bhaker made a remarkable comeback to finish third, trailing behind two Korean shooters.

In an interview with the broadcaster following her win, Bhaker shared that the teachings of the Gita motivated her throughout the competition. She expressed her belief that India deserves more medals and felt privileged to contribute to that goal.

“I feel great. This medal was long overdue for India. I was just a means to achieve it. India deserves even more medals, and we are looking forward to many more events. Our entire team has worked incredibly hard, and for me, the feeling is surreal. I put in a lot of effort and fought with all my energy until the very end. Though it was a bronze, I’m grateful to have won it for India and hope to achieve even better results next time,” Manu Bhaker said.

“Honestly, I read a lot of the Gita. The message that resonated with me was to focus on my duty and not worry about the outcome. In the Gita, Krishna tells Arjun to concentrate on his karma, not the results. This was my mindset: just do your best and let everything else fall into place,” the Indian shooter added.

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This victory was especially significant for Bhaker, who experienced a major setback at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when her pistol malfunctioned during the 10m air pistol qualification round.

This equipment failure affected her performance, causing her to fall short in both the mixed team 10m pistol and 25m pistol events. The disappointment was profound given the high expectations and intense pressure she faced.

On this occasion, Bhaker kept pace with the top two Koreans until the end, ultimately securing her place on the podium.

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