You spend a life chasing an Olympic medal. Manu Bhaker, at 22, already has two in her bag, within 48 hours. In the process, she became the first Indian athlete in post Independence India to win two medals in the same Olympics.

On Tuesday, at the Chateauroux shooting centre, Manu teamed up with Sarabjot Singh, 23, to win bronze in the 10m air pistol category, beating the South Korean duo of
Oh Yeh Jin and Lee Wonoho 16-10.

On Sunday, Manu had given India its first medal of the Paris Olympic Games with an individual bronze in the 10m category. A dream come true? “Yeh usi sapne ka ek tukda hai sir. Ek tukda bag mein hai, dusra yeh hai (One part of the dream is in the bag, the other part is here),” a smiling Manu said. “Any athlete who plays for India dreams of winning an Olympic medal. I also have this dream.... To win as many medals as possible.”

Representing British India, Norman Pritchard had won two silver medals in sprint and hurdle in the same Olympics — in the same city 124 years ago. “I will repeat what I had said on Sunday. It’s surreal,” Manu said about that feat.

The mixed event, introduced in the Tokyo Olympic Games by the International Shooting Sport Federation, does not require a great level of understanding between the two members like in table tennis or tennis. Yes, it requires synergy. When one misfires, the partner has to score big.

The Indians started on the wrong foot with Sarabjot’s opening shot fetching a poor 8.6, while Manu shot 10.2 for an aggregate of 18.8. The Koreans aggregated 20.5 to take the opening round and open a 2-0 lead.

In mixed team events, the pair that reaches 16 points first wins the medal.

Down 0-2, Manu’s consistency came to the fore and it rubbed off on Sarabjot as the pair took the next four rounds to take their tally to 8-2.

Such was her level of confidence that Manu had just three shots below 10 in the entire contest which lasted13 rounds.

It was an uphill task for the Koreans who succumbed to pressure and could not match their rivals, losing 16-10.

“Yes, dono ka contribution zaroori hai (both needed to contribute),” the two shooters said in unison.

In the individual event, Sarabjot endured the disappointment of missing the final last Saturday. “I was under no pressure today (Tuesday). Woke up at 5.30am, did my regular things and came to the range. No point taking pressure. But yes, once we came to the lane, you feelthe excitement.”

And Manu? Was she nervous? “Not really. I am also an early riser. (Jaspal) Rana sir (her personal coach) always tells me to wake up early. So like always I was up by 5.30am. A yoga session, workout at the gym, discussing finer details with Rana sir and straight to the range.”

The two medals so far — with a little bit of luck India could have had another bronze winner in Arjun Babuta in the 10m category — shooting has shed the disappointments of the Rio and Tokyo Games.

Quite a bit of the credit goes to the National Rifle Association of India, which introduced a policy change vis-a-vis Olympic qualification. The NRAI did away with bonus points for shooterswho won the Olympic quota through performance in international events and introduced trials.So the shooters had to score well in the Olympic trials held in New Delhi in March and Bhopal in May.

“That was the game-changer. In the past, an Olympic quota winner, riding the bonus point system, used to be in the Olympics squad even if their form had dipped. It’s no longer the same,” Olympian and now shooting coach Joydeep Karmakar told The Telegraph on Tuesday.

Take Ramita Jindal’s case. The Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist in the 10m air rifle event beat World Championship medallist Mehuli Ghosh and Tilottama Sen at the domestic trials to make it to Paris.

“When the time comes, you have to give the devil its due. The NRAI has its shortcomings but showed rare pragmatism and discussed with all the stakeholders before making the policy changes,” Karmakar, who had floated the idea of trials before the Games for the first time inMay 2022, said.

The government’s faith in the game despite the consistent failure of shooters was also appreciated. “The support from the Sports Authority of India, the NRAI and the sponsors was helpful,”Manu said.

In this Olympic Games cycle from Tokyo to Paris, the sports ministry cleared ₹28,78,634 for Manu under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme and ₹1,35,36,155 under the Annual Calendar for Training and Competition. For Sarabjot, the amounts were ₹20,24,928 (TOPS) and ₹1,26,20,970 (ACTC).

“Without this backing, it would not have been possible to stand on the podium,” Sarabjot said. Manu now has the 25m pistol event qualification round on Friday. The final is slated for Saturday.

“I will try to give my best. But even if I fail, I hope people will show the same love they have been over the last three days,” she said.

A treble show on the cards? Why not?