Manu Bhaker's 2024 Paris Olympics campaign has seen her being honoured and celebrated across the country. The 22-year old reached her hometown of Jhajjar on Sunday and was felicitated by the District Commissioner for her achievements.
Upon reaching the event Manu was showered with gifts and garlands. She was thankful for the amount of support she has received from her hometown and took the time to acknowledge that.
"You always need support from a lot of people, it can't be just attributed to any one individual. I started in my village and I got a lot of support from my school, family and then my district helped me out a lot. I was facing a license issue but they sorted it out quickly and from there I started improving as a shooter," said Manu to reporters.
Manu Bhaker created history at the 2024 Paris Olympics by becoming the first Indian to win two medals in a single Olympic campaign post independence. She also is the first Indian woman to win a medal in single's shooting at the event. Despite the record breaking performance, Manu still is not satisfied with her performance and will be aiming for gold next time out.
"The aim is to always go for gold but these bronze medals have given me teachings for the future and my aim will always be to go for gold," she added
Manu also went on to confirm that she is currently on a three month long break. She is facing a slight injury issue and will only be returning to competition after tending to it.
"I have taken a three month long break, I was facing a slight injury issue so I will have to address that. After that I will return to training and the timeframe for me to return to competitions is five months,"said Manu.
India won six medals at the Paris Games out of which three medals came from the Jhajjar District. In addition to the two medals won by Manu, Wrestler Aman Sehrawat also claimed bronze in the men's wrestling freestyle 57kg. DC Shakti Singh confirmed that Aman will be coming to Jhajjar on Tuesday and will be felicitated as well upon his arrival.
"It is a very proud moment for us, our district's daughter has won two medals in the Olympics. She created history by becoming the first Indian to win two medals in a single campaign. India won six medals at the Olympics out of which three are from Jhajjar district. Aman Sehrawat also won a medal. We are very happy that she won the medal and hopefully she keeps working hard and makes the nation proud," said Jhajjar District Commissioner, captain Shakti Singh.
(With inputs from IANS)
