Love for my sport keeps me grounded: Manu Bhaker (2024)

It’s not exactly how MANU BHAKER wanted to enjoy her Olympic success — two bronze medals. After a hectic schedule, she was looking forward to ‘some time off’ where she would put her feet up and just relax. Instead, she has been on a whirlwind tour of media houses, photo shoots, corporate events, podcasts studios etc. But, like she handles all the tricky situations at the shooting range, she is acing this phase of her life too. ET catches up with Bhaker to talk about her life after the Olympic success, her memories of pressure moments just before she won the medals and more. Excerpts

What has changed around you since winning the Olympic medals?

I have been attending a lot of events since then. Which is okay because I enjoy everything. It was pre-decided that I would take a long break after the Olympics. But because of these events, I have been travelling a lot. I had thought I would get some time off and I would sleep, have rest, and stay at home. But I haven’t got time to do all that. I am not complaining (laughs). I am enjoying this phase also.

These were your second Olympic Games. Did you feel any different this time?
The difference was that in the last Olympics [in Tokyo], we were staying in the athletes’ village and there were so many athletes. When I saw the basketball players, I was amazed that someone could be so huge. When I saw people from athletics, I was amazed that someone could be so fit. Those kinds of feelings. I was really young [19] and the environment at the village made me a bit nervous. Then there was pistol malfunction, which further increased my nervousness. Though I was world No. 2, things didn’t work out the way I had imagined they would. But… never mind. This time [in Paris], we weren’t staying in the main village. But I didn’t know that and I was prepared, I knew my priorities and I was like I have to follow this routine no matter what conditions we get. Chateauroux, however, was a very secluded, small and cute village. All the shooting contingents were there. It was quite an interesting environment. I enjoyed a lot and followed my routine. And it worked out well.

Does this ability to stick to your routine or process, irrespective of the place you are at, come from experience?

Of course it does. Last time around, there was no clarity on what kind of routine I should follow. But this time around, I had the experience of so many international competitions, and also of the Olympic games. It definitely helped me. Even if I was tired, I would push myself and stick to routine.

Could you take us to the final moment when you realised that you missed the silver medal by a whisker?

If you watch the last minute of the video of the match, I was waiting for the other athlete’s shot and then I realised that I was 0.1 short and missed the silver. Although all my shots were good, my groupings were good. So, it was a bittersweet moment for me. I was leading by 0.3 points and she shot better than me to take the second place by 0.1. I was like, should I be happy with the bronze or should I be sad that I missed the silver and the opportunity [to fight] for the gold. Then I was like, ‘umm… however it is, just accept it’. I was happy that after Tokyo, all the things I went through, the low phase when I even thought that I would drop the sport, then coming here and winning a medal. So, I felt really good. At the same time, I was like, ‘0.1. Silver.’

Just before the last shot, when you were in second place and knew that you needed one more good shot to stay in race for the gold, what was going through your mind?
Obviously, there was a lot of pressure. The goal was always to win the gold medal. I never thought about settling for bronze or silver. And during my preparation also, the gold was always in the mind. For the pressure situation, we practiced breathing patterns — the 4:8 pattern — and followed that. When we take a shot, in my mind, I am just thinking about doing my best in that particular shot and leaving the rest to fate. You can’t control the result. Shooting is a kind of sport where you have to be patient. You can’t react. You can’t speak. It’s inherent in the nature of the sport that you stay calm.

This time, NRAI used a different format to select shooters for the Olympics. There were four rounds of trials. Did it help you prepare better for the Olympics? What’s your assessment of the selection process?
There are two ways to look at it. I will just give you a point of view. For me, it is what it is. Whatever competition is there, I just think about doing my best. It worked out for me. But for many people, who could win a medal, it became difficult for them to peak at the Olympics because they peaked at the previous competition right before the Games. So, sometimes these things don’t work out for some people. They [association/officials] should keep these things in mind while formulating a selection policy. Maybe they were mindful of all these things. I am not sure about all of this.

Irrespective of your young age, you are quite experienced. You know the system in India and you have also seen the world. What are your suggestions to help India become one of the best nations in shooting?
India is already doing well. Even on the world stage, there are few shooters from each country. For example, one shooter from Germany, one shooter from France, one shooter from China… This time Korea did really well. So, Koreans are doing great in shooting, but India is also improving a lot. If you compare with the last Olympics or the last-to-last Olympics, this time we were able to see the performances, and the progress in the performance as well. If we put some more effort into it, I’m sure we can count on shooting when it comes to the Olympic Games. So, the person who actually knows this sport should be given the coaching responsibility and the person who knows this sport thoroughly will be able to administer better and give even better results. Right now we’re doing good, but I’m sure we can do even better in future.

There are ample examples of success getting to the head. You have also got a lot of success. How do you cope with it? And what do you do so that you remain the way you are?
I really love my sport and as long as I feel that way, I’m sure I will put in all my energy, all my resources and all my hard work into it. And I think that is what matters the most. I have faced the lows and the highs, but I think the love for my sport will keep me really close to it and I will keep trying my best no matter how much success I get. Or even if I lose, I will keep doing what I’m doing. This is what I’m good at and I will try my best to continue that way.