All Indian shooters to win Olympic medal

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore created history in 2004 when he became the first Indian to win an Olympic individual silver medal post-independence. The shotgun shooter from Jaipur etched his name in the history books by achieving a feat like that. Since then, India have won 5 Olympic medals in shooting in Individual events and one in mixed events. Recently, Manu Bhaker became the only Indian women shooter to win a medal at the Olympics.

Read Also: Paris Olympics 2024 Medal tally update: Top nations and India's position

All Indian shooters to win Olympic medal

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore - Silver medal at Athens 2004 Olympics in men’s double trap

Army man Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore wrote history in 2004 when he became the first Indian to win an Olympic individual silver medal after independence. He had already made a name for himself, having won the gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and a bronze at the 2003 World Championships.

In Athens, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore finished the qualifier in the fifth position. He made 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 while Rajyavardhan came second. He beat China’s Wang Zheng to clinch the silver medal and became the first Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal.

Abhinav Bindra - Gold medal at Beijing 2008 Olympics in men’s 10m air rifle

Abhinav Bindra finished fourth in the qualifying round of the men's 10m air rifle at the Beijing 2008 Olympics but progressed in the final to face Henri Hakkinen from Finland. In the final attempt, Abhinav 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 list at Tokyo 2020.

Gagan Narang - Bronze medal at London 2012 Olympics in men’s 10m air rifle

After a disappointing outing at the Beijing Olympics, Gagan Narang gave a brilliant performance in London to qualify for the final while defending champion Abhinav Bindra got knocked out in the qualification round. In the final at the Royal Artillery Barracks, Gagan Narang consistently shot in the 10s and ended with 701.1 to claim the bronze medal - India’s first medal at the London Olympics.

Read Also: India at Olympics: Every medal India won at the Olympics

Vijay Kumar - Silver medal at London 2012 Olympics in men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol

Vijay Kumar claimed India’s second silver in shooting, this time in a rifle event. A Subedar in the Indian army, Vijay Kumar moved ahead till the final two remained. However, Cuba's Leuris Pupo had already taken a comfortable lead heading into the final shot as the Indian rifle shooter ended in second place for a silver medal in the 2012 Olympics in London.

Manu Bhaker - Bronze medal at Paris 2024 Olympics in women’s 10m air pistol

Manu Bhaker won India's first medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 with a bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol shooting event. She became India's first women's medal winner in Olympic shooting. 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 a new Olympic record of 243.2.

Manu started the final, scoring 50.4 in the first series for second place. A few 9.6s in the second series saw her slip to the third spot behind Oh Ye Jin and Yeji Kim. The Indian shooter claimed the second position from Yeji Kim at the end of the third series but during the closing stages, 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

Indian shooting pair Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh created history in the Paris Olympics 2024 by winning the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event. They defeated the Korean pair of Lee Wonho and Oh Ye Jin. 

Earlier, Manu had become the first Indian woman shooter to win an Olympic medal after winning the women's 10m air pistol bronze medal, while now she has become the first Indian after independence to win two medals in the same Olympics. Earlier no shooter had won two medals in shooting.

Notably, British-born Indian player Norman Pritchard had won silver medals in the 200m sprint and 200m hurdles in the 1900 Olympics, but that achievement was achieved before independence.

Swapnil Kusale - Bronze medal at Paris 2024 Olympics in men's 50m rifle 3 positions

Swapnil Kusale is the third shooter after Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh to win an Olympic medal in shooting at the Paris Olympics 2024. The 28-year-old shooter finished third with a score of 451.4, which comprises 51.6 in kneeling, 51.9 in prone and 50.4 in standing. This was followed by elimination rounds where Kusale outclassed Czechia's Privratsky Jiri. 

This is the first time India have won three shooting medals from a single edition of the Olympic Games. Swapnil, who a day before became India's first shooter to qualify for the men's 50m rifle 3 position final, created history by becoming the only Olympic medal winner in this category.