Manu Bhaker,
the famous Indian pistol shot, she was named the BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year on Monday. This was because of how well she did at the Olympics in Paris. Along with golfer Aditi Ashok, para shooter Avani Lekhara, India women’s cricket vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, and wrestler Vinesh Phogat, Manu was one of five nominees for the award. All of them were chosen because of their outstanding achievements to Indian sports. A group of well-known sports writers and media chose the nominees.
The ISWOTY Award, which is now in its fifth year, recognises and celebrates the outstanding successes of Indian women athletes.
The 22-year-old Manu got the award for winning two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics. He was the first Indian athlete since independence to win more than one medal at the same Games.
She got the third place in both in the 10m air pistol solo event & the 10m air pistol mixed team event.
Manu became the youngest Indian shot to win a World Cup gold medal in 2018. He was only 16 years old.
She got BBC’s Emerging Player of the Year award in 2021 and also won the Arjuna Award.
Sheetal Devi, a para archer, won the BBC Emerging Player of the Year award. Mithali Raj, a former India women’s cricket captain, won the BBC Lifetime Achievement award, and Avani, a para shot, won the BBC Para Sportswoman of the Year award.
The BBC Changemaker Award was given to chess player Tania Sachdev.
Manu thanked the person for recognising her and thought about her path to Olympic victory.
“Thanks, BBC, for the honour.” I won the Emerging Player award a few years ago, and now I got the big one. “There were ups and downs on my journey,” Manu said in her speech.
“After Tokyo, I had a lot of problems and missed a lot of events, but my journey didn’t end; it went on.” You can only write your own story. I did that in Paris. This is the next stop on the trip. In Los Angeles (2028 Olympics), I’d like to change the colour of the medal.