‘Goal for me is…’: Two-time Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker reveals her next goal – Watch | More sports news

NEW DELHI: India’s top marksman Manu Bhaker, who became the first Indian shooter after Independence to win two medals in a single event, Olympic Gamesis currently on hiatus from to shoot.
Manu, who won a bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event to become the first woman shooter from India to win an Olympic medal, was participating in an interactive session ‘Beyond the Trigger: Harnessing Mental Toughness for Success in Any Field’ during the Economic Times’ World Leaders Forum 2024 (ETWLF 2024) on Saturday.
During the session, Manu answered all questions in a smooth and elegant manner.
Manu was first asked what’s going on in her mind in terms of where she goes from here and what the future holds for her after the high of winning two Olympic medals.
Manu thanked the crowd for the warm welcome and said, “For me the goal is the journey to gold at the Olympics, so the next one for me is LA. However, I am on a little break now. It’s been eight and a half years since I took a break from my sport. So now it’s time for me to take 3 months, 4 months (break) and then start my training again for LA 2028. And all the competitions in between, I think it’s just a milestone and the next goal will be LA 2028. for me. And now I enjoy everything, I mean I get to dress up and stuff (giggles), so it’s fun and games.”
Manu was then asked to reflect on one of her recent quotes where she had said that you can be an engineer or a doctor, whichever field you want to excel in, and that also applies to sports, which has so much to offer in this day and age. But does any other profession know the pain that sports offers, because when things don’t work out, like in Tokyoit can be quite painful.
Manu said: “It can be (painful), but I believe that if you have really invested in something, if you have something that is really close to your heart, for example, for me it is my sport, I am really connected to it emotionally, physically and mentally, so it will hurt if sometimes you are not able to deliver the level that you expected. So for some it will be sports, for others it will be education, for others it will be business. So when you have really invested in something, and you are not really able to deliver your level, it will cause a lot of pain. And sports I think gave me the opportunity to travel the world, which I really enjoyed, so I would really say ‘do sports, but you also have to balance your studies and everything’. Everything is really important, you cannot only do sports or only do activities, or only study, it has to be a balance in life.”

(TOI photo)
When asked how lonely a sport like shooting can be, Manu said, “We (shooters) find our interests in it, for me my sport gives me a kick. For example, if I shoot in an event and I don’t win, then for the next event it will be like ‘I have to win, I have to win in the next match’. The mistakes that I have made, I have to learn from them and not repeat them in the next one. So we set short-term goals for the next match, or next year’s matches. In the beginning, shooting can be really boring for some people, but once you get the hang of it, I’m sure it’s also very interesting as a hobby. It can be very interesting to take your mind off things. So I really enjoy it and I would ask all of you when you go to the shooting range, if you have time, please try shooting, it’s also a very good stress reliever.”
When asked if her hobbies that she has developed besides shooting, sketching, horse riding, playing the violin, reading, are really hobbies or coping mechanisms to deal with shooting, Manu said: “For me they are just hobbies because I really enjoy doing different things, I mean we all need to find time for ourselves to be able to do things that we really enjoy. Some people like to try different sports, for example on Sundays they go for a run, go to a football match or something, some people go to the movies and stuff. You definitely need to find time for yourself, definitely spend at least five hours a week on yourself and it will really make you feel good. For me, trying different sports, different activities, it’s really fun and easy. You need to enjoy what you are doing and if you find time for yourself, even 5-6 hours a week, it will really improve your mood and it will really help you to focus better on what you are doing in your life.”
Manu was then asked what was harder: getting motivated after Tokyo or staying motivated after the high she experiences.
Manu replies: “I think both situations, like after Tokyo, took their toll on me. I was really heartbroken. I thought, next time I have to win and I have to win, but during the process, once Tokyo was over, I was very motivated for the next Olympics. But 2022 and 2023 showed me a really tough time. So it was really hard for me to process it then, but I thought, just do your honest hard work and just let it happen. I want to share this with you guys before Paris Olympics, I didn’t win any major medals in any event. I won team medals but no individual medals, so I wasn’t really confident before I went into Paris 2024, but my coach and my family were like ‘you have to deliver what you’ve learned, you have to try to do your best in this event and just make it happen. You will win a medal.’ He (the coach) really had confidence in me, but I didn’t, but if you are really focused on your process, I’m sure you will get the results.”
When asked to talk about her return to college, as athletes in all sports struggle with their careers after retirement and by returning to college she is really setting a benchmark for younger kids, Manu said, “I never stopped studying. I come from a family of engineers, professors, teachers and everything, so it’s like I have a kind of pressure when I study in schools or colleges. So there’s a little bit of pressure that if you fail, it doesn’t look good on your profile. I don’t want to be tagged as ‘she failed this subject, you’re from college’. So I wouldn’t want to do that and my teachers really help me with that and I believe that you have to be able to balance everything in your life. One thing can’t take you as far as you want to go, so for me it’s like when I have free time outside of sports, I also really enjoy studying and my teachers really help me with that.”

Manu was then asked to talk about her life as a teenager, a time when young people often hung out with friends and she practiced shooting at the shooting range.
Manu replies: “I’m sure a lot of people like to enjoy their teenage years, hang out with friends or go to the movies, but for me that was never really the case. I couldn’t really make friends because I wasn’t really there during my school days or college days, so I was mostly busy shooting competitions for the country and I think when I was 16-17-18, the main thing that really inspired me and motivated me and kept me going was that if I lost a competition, I would be really pissed off, I would think ‘how can you lose, how can you not win this competition’, so that would really trigger me, it would really trigger me and then if I won a competition, I would think ‘you have to repeat, you have to do it again.’ So that was my motivation that really kept me going when I was 16-17-18-19, but now I’m more patient with things like ‘Okay, you win when you win, just keep going with the flow and keep working hard.’ I also like to watch movies, and that’s all with my family and friends. I take time, like I said before, for my hobbies and to spend time with my family. As humans, that’s our number one priority. Spending time with your family and also time for yourself. That will really help you, mentally and physically, and it will help you grow in your career in the long run.”
Manu was then asked if she was a product of the system, because champions have become what they have become in relation to the system. There are athletes who have benefited from the system and there are athletes who have become successful regardless of what the system has brought them. How does she see herself?
Manu replies: “We all face different challenging moments in our life and in our career, for me sometimes it was really challenging to go with the system, sometimes the system really helped me, to really achieve something in life, like winning a competition or qualifying for some events or competitions. So it was both, actually the system also helped me and when it was challenging for me. For example, before the Olympics in Paris, we had 4-5 sets of trials and I shot in three events, it was really hectic for me. It was challenging but it really made me strong and I came out stronger and actually it really helped me in Paris too. So I don’t think we can always have everything, the way we want, sometimes life throws you really tough times, sometimes it will be really tough for all of you, it was for me too, but that time will really make you stronger and I can’t say that I am a product of something or not, but everything that happened in my life has really made me who I am today and I am really grateful that it is happened.”
When asked about the small challenges a shooter faces like importing a gun and if things have improved, Manu said, “Initially, I was facing this challenge that I couldn’t really get a permit to import a gun but soon things were addressed and I also got help from the government and especially the media. The media was the agency that really helped me get a permit the first time I had to import the gun so anything can be helpful. I never thought that I would have such good relationships with media people in the long run and I definitely believe that challenges will help you become stronger in life. There is a saying that God will give you challenges thinking that you are capable of overcoming that and becoming even stronger. So just face the challenges no matter what is in your life and I am sure some people have tougher challenges in their lives but they will make us stronger.”

(TOI photo)
Manu was then asked how emotionally vulnerable the life of a shooter can be and how she stays away from anything that could negatively impact her because it is such a mental issue.
Manu replies, “Yes, it gets boring for me sometimes, even now. My sport has taught me so much patience, earlier I was a very impulsive person. I used to react to things very quickly, especially when I was doing boxing and karate, I was so impulsive in nature, I used to think, if something got out of my hands, I would react immediately. But this sport has taught me a lot of patience and I would say that you should actually stick to what you really love in life. I really love shooting, I really love doing my sport, so I think I will continue with it for a very long time and try as long as it is possible for me, as long as I love my sport and we should all try to do our best in our field. And India has so much potential, 1.5 billion people now and we all have so much talent, so much potential, in the coming years I think we can dominate in many different segments of life, segments of career.”
Before ending the session, Manu added: “Paralympic Games have just begun and Indians are also doing well, let us all support our Paralympic athletes, encourage them, root for them, we hope they bring as many medals as possible for our country and shine even more.”