Manu Bhaker shot brilliantly in the women’s 10m air pistol event to open the medal tally for India at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Sunday.
With her feat, she joins the list of elite athletes who opened the medal tally for the country at different editions. Interestingly for the past two editions, India’s medal tally was opened by women.
In 2020 Mirabai Chanu opened the medal tally on the first day with a medal in weightlifting while it was Sakshi Malik in the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The Bridge looks at all the athletes who have opened the medal tally at the Olympics for the country in this last decade.
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Mirabai Chanu- 2020 Tokyo Olympics
The queen of Indian weightlifting, Mirabai Chanu started India’s party at the Tokyo Olympics with a silver in the women’s 49kg category. She lifted 202 kg and became the first-ever Indian weightlifter to win the silver medal.
She also became the second weightlifter to win a medal after Karnam Malleswari.
India would go on to register its best campaign at the Olympics with seven medals with one historic gold medal won by Neeraj Chopra in the Javelin Throw.
Sakshi Malik- 2016 Rio Olympics
In India’s worst performance at the Olympics, the positive was the medal won by the underdog wrestler Sakshi Malik in the women’s 58 kg category.
Sakshi started with a win in the first round but lost in the quarters to the Russian wrestler Valeria Koblova. Koblova reached the final opening a way for Sakshi via the repechage round.
In the repechage, Sakshi won two bouts to clinch the historic bronze and became the first-ever Indian woman wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics.
Gagan Narang- 2012 London Olympics
India’s current chef-de-mission Gagan Narang was the one who opened India’s medal tally in the 2012 London Olympics with a bronze medal in the men’s 10m air rifle.
Narang’s medal was India’s third medal in shooting with Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore winning silver in 2004 and Abhinav Bindra with gold in 2008.
Abhinav Bindra- 2008 Beijing Olympics
India’s first-ever individual gold medal came in the 2008 Beijing Olympics with the legendary shooter Abhinav Bindra winning the gold medal in the 10m air rifle and opening the account for the country.
Abhinav’s feat meant that India has won a gold medal in a discipline apart from hockey where India has won eight gold medals.
Apart from Bindra, Vijender Singh in boxing and Sushil Kumar in wrestling won bronze medals to take an overall tally of India to three medals.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore- 2004 Athens Olympics
India’s first-ever shooting medal came via Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore who won the silver medal in the men’s double trap. Rathore’s medal was the only medal for India in the edition.
There were some close finishes with Mahesh Bhupathi-Leander Paes and Kunjarani Devi finishing fourth in tennis and weightlifting.
Karnam Malleswari- 2000 Sydney Olympics
Karnam Malleswari won the only medal for the country and it was a bronze in the women’s 69 kg category of weightlifting.
Karnam’s medal is one of the most historic medals for India as she was the first-ever Indian woman to win a medal at the Olympics and opened the path for many women like her.
After Karnam, seven more women won medals and in Rio 2016, India won two medals and both were won by women.