Lifted on shoulders, garlanded and showered with rose petals — star pistol shooter Manu Bhaker‘s return to the country was a memorable affair as hundreds of supporters braved a steady drizzle to welcome her on Wednesday after her historic feat of winning two medals in a single edition of the Olympics.
The Air India flight (AI 142), which brought Bhaker from Paris to Delhi, landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at around 9:20am, delayed by one hour.
Hundreds of people, who waited at the airport long before her arrival despite the morning drizzle in the city, accorded her and her coach Jaspal Rana an enthusiastic reception.
The 22-year-old Bhaker won a bronze each in the women’s 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team event, in which she had paired with Sarabjot Singh, to script Olympic history for the country.
Before her, only British-Indian athlete Norman Pritchard had achieved the rare landmark for the country with his two silver medals in 200m sprint and 200m hurdles at the 1900 Olympics but this happened in the pre-Independence era.