India’s shooting stars at the Olympics - Abhinav Bindra is jewel in the crown
India have won seven medals in shooting at the Olympics. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore started with a silver at Athens 2004 while Manu Bhaker won two at Paris 2024.
India’s performance in individual events at the Olympic Games had not been very promising in the last century as medals have been few and far between.
However, things changed rapidly in the 21st century as Indian shooters began to win the elusive individual Olympic medals consistently.
It all started when Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore shot to glory with a silver medal at Athens 2004 and triggered a turn of events that saw six other Indians finish on the podium at the Summer Games.
At Paris 2024, Manu Bhaker became the first Indian woman to win a medal in shooting at the Olympics. She later became the first Indian to win two medals at a single edition of the Olympics after she clinched a bronze with Sarabjot Singh in the mixed team event.
India also won a record three medals in shooting at Paris 2024, the most in a single edition, eclipsing the two from London 2012.
Indian shooters have won seven medals at the Olympics. Here’s a brief look at how they did it.
Indian Olympic medals in shooting
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore - Silver medal at Athens 2004 Olympics in men’s double trap
Army man Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore made headlines in 2004 when he became the first Indian to win an Olympics individual silver medal post-independence.
The shotgun shooter from Jaipur had already made a name for himself heading into the Athens Games, having won the gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and followed it with a bronze at the 2003 World Championships.
In Athens, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore did not have the best of starts in the double-trap event, finishing the qualifier in the fifth position. However, he was able to make the final cut since he was in the top six led by the UAE’s Ahmed Al Maktoum.
In the final, Ahmed Al Maktoum maintained his lead to clinch the gold medal with ease but there was a tough competition for second place.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore overcame a stiff challenge from the People Republic of China’s Wang Zheng to clinch the silver medal and etched his name in the history books.
Abhinav Bindra - Gold medal at Beijing 2008 Olympics in men’s 10m air rifle
After Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s success at the previous Games, hopes were high from the Indian shooting contingent, especially Abhinav Bindra.
The Dehradun-born Abhinav had set an Olympic record in the qualification round at the Athens Olympics but could not sustain his form in the final.
Four years later, Abhinav Bindra was all set to take another shot at glory.
The Indian shooter finished fourth in the qualifying round but blazed through in the final to tie with Henri Hakkinen from Finland with one shot remaining.
In the final attempt, Abhinav Bindra shot an almost-perfect 10.8 to bag the gold medal as Hakkinen managed only 9.7. It was India’s first-ever individual Olympic gold and remained the only one till Neeraj Chopra joined the exclusive club at Tokyo 2020.
Gagan Narang - Bronze medal at London 2012 Olympics in men’s 10m air rifle
India enjoyed immense success at the London Games and the shooting contingent, including Gagan Narang, was a big reason for it.
After a disappointing outing at the Beijing Olympics, Gagan Narang gave a fine performance in London to sail into the final while defending champion Abhinav Bindra exited in the qualification round.
In the final at the Royal Artillery Barracks, Gagan Narang continued his splendid run by consistently shooting in the 10s and ended with 701.1 to claim the bronze medal - India’s first medal at the London Olympics.
Vijay Kumar - Silver medal at London 2012 Olympics in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol
Eight years after Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won the silver medal in Athens, another army man Vijay Kumar claimed India’s second silver in shooting. This time in a rifle event.
A Subedar in the Indian army, Vijay Kumar headed to London as the Commonwealth Games champion and qualified for the final rounds in fourth position.
Since the new shooting rules did not carry the qualification scores in the final, Vijay Kumar had the opportunity to start afresh and advance.
As other shooters kept dropping out in the eliminations, Vijay Kumar shot brilliantly to move ahead till the final two remained. However, Cuba's Leuris Pupo had already taken a comfortable lead heading into the final shot and the Indian rifle shooter ended in second place for a silver.
Manu Bhaker (right) became the first Indian woman to win Olympic medal in shooting.
Manu Bhaker - Bronze medal at Paris 2024 Olympics in women’s 10m air pistol
Manu Bhaker won India's first medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics with a bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol shooting event. She thus became India's first woman to win a medal in shooting at the Olympics.
A day earlier, she had become the first Indian woman to qualify for an Olympic shooting final in 20 years.
Manu Bhaker scored 221.7 to finish third in the eight-woman final. Oh Ye Jin of the Republic of Korea clinched the gold medal with the new Olympic record of 243.2 and was followed by her compatriot Yeji Kim, who pipped Bhaker to enter the gold medal round and won the silver with the final score of 241.3.
Manu Bhaker started the final strongly, scoring 50.4 in the first series for second place. A couple of 9.6s in the second series saw her slip to the third spot behind Oh Ye Jin and Yeji Kim.
The Indian shooter took back the second position from Yeji Kim at the end of the third series and once again at the closing stages of the final but the South Korean shooter edged past Bhaker by 0.1 point to enter the gold medal round.
Manu Bhaker/Sarabjot Singh - Bronze medal at Paris 2024 Olympics in mixed team 10m air pistol
Manu Bhaker became the first athlete from independent India to win two medals at a single edition of the Olympics when she clinched another bronze at Paris 2024 in the mixed team 10m air pistol shooting event with Sarabjot Singh. She also became the first Indian to win two medals in shooting at the Olympics. Paris 2024 was also the first Games where India won two medals in shooting for the first time since London 2012.
Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh defeated the Republic of Korea’s Oh Ye Jin and Wonho Lee 16-10 in the bronze medal match.
Manu started strongly, shooting a 10.2 on her opening shot. Sarabjot Singh’s 8.6 cost India the first two points but he recovered quickly with scores of 10.5, 10.4 and 10 to help India take the next six points.
Manu Bhaker struck at least a 10 on her first seven shots. However, Oh Ye Jin kept the South Koreans in the hunt with her consistency as they recovered from an 8-2 deficit to stretch the match to 14-10. Oh Ye Jin, the Olympic champion, struck a 9 on her final shot while her partner managed a 9.5. Manu Bhaker hit a 9.4 but a 10.2 from Sarabjot Singh confirmed the medal for India.
The Indian shooters had 19 of their 26 shots hit at least a 10 while the South Korean had 12 shots hit a minimum of 10.
Swapnil Kusale - Bronze medal at Paris 2024 Olympics in men's 50m rifle 3 positions
India won their third shooting medal at Paris 2024 with Swapnil Kusale's bronze in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions event. The three medals eclipsed the two that India won at the London 2012 Games.
In the final, Kusale was sixth after the first 15 shots in kneeling positions with 153.3 - two off Norwegian shooter Jon-Hermann, who led the field at the point.
However, some consistent shooting in the three series in prone position and two series in standing positions, saw Kusale climb up to third at the end of stage 1, following which the bottom two shooters were eliminated.
With one elimination after every single shot in stage 2 after that, Kusale shot 10.5, 9.4 and 9.9 with his next three shots to hold his position in the top three and confirmed a medal.
However, a 10.0 with the next shot wasn’t enough to keep him in contention for the gold. China’s Liu Yukunwon the gold medal with 463.6 while Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish (461.3) picked up the silver. Kusale tallied 451.4.