Olympics 2024: Manu Bhaker arrives in India, set to meet sports minister

Manu Bhaker, who won two medals at the Paris Olympics 2024, received a warm welcome on her arrival to India on Wednesday.

The pistol shooter flew in an Air India flight (AI 142) from Paris and landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi at around 9.20 am Indian Standard Time (IST), delayed by an hour.

Manu was welcomed by hundreds of fans, supporters, state government officials and her family members. Despite light rain, loud cheers and slogans hailed Manu and her coach Jaspal Rana.

Manu will meet Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in the afternoon in New Delhi. She will go back to Paris on Saturday.

Manu has been named India's flag-bearer for the closing ceremony to be held on Sunday.

Warm reception for Manu, Jaspal

The 22-year-old shooter and coach Jaspal were greeted with bouquets, garlands and celebratory dhol after they left the airport exit on an open-roof cab.

Flower petals were showered on Manu and Ranaa no sooner had they come out of the airport amid significant police presence to manage the crowd.

Manu won bronze in the women's 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team events. In the mixed team event, Manu won the bronze medal teaming up with Sarabjot Singh.

The Haryana shooter, however, missed a chance to script a hat-trick as she finished fourth in the women's 25m pistol event.

Manu is the only Indian woman to win two medals at the same Olympics and the second from the country to achieve the feat.

British-Indian athlete Norman Pritchard, an athlete with a root in then Calcutta, won two silver medals in 200m sprint and 200m hurdles at the 1900 Olympics.

Though this happened in the pre-independence era, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognised Pritchard's medal as India's first at the Olympics.

Among those present were Manu's parents Ram Kishan and Sumedha and sports enthusiasts and officials from her home state Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, the state to which Rana belongs.