Double Olympic bronze medal-winning shooter Manu Bhaker returns home

New Delhi, Aug 7 (PTI) Star pistol shooter Manu Bhaker arrived home on Wednesday after her historic feat at the ongoing Paris Games where she became the first Indian in post Independence era to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympics.

The Air India direct flight (AI 142) which brought Bhaker from Paris to Delhi landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at around 9:20am, delayed by one hour from the earlier scheduled time.

Around 100 people waited at the airport long before her arrival despite the morning drizzle in the city.

Among them were Bhaker’s parents — Ram Kishan and Sumedha — and sports enthusiasts and officials from neighbouring states, including from Uttarakhand, the home state of Bhaker’s personal coach Jaspal Rana, who also came back along with here.

Rana’s father was also among those present at the airport.

People gathered at the airport long before her arrival and they celebrated Bhaker’s feat with song and dance, beating of drums, holding banners with photos of Bhaker and Rana.

Bhaker will go back to Paris on Saturday and will be the female flag bearer of the Indian contingent at the Paris Olympics Closing Ceremony on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Bhaker won a bronze each in the women’s 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team event — where she had paired with Sarabjot Singh — to script Olympic history for the country.

Before her, British-Indian athlete Norman Pritchard had won two silver medals in 200m sprint and 200m hurdles at the 1900 Olympics but that achievement had come in the pre-Independence era.