Manu Bhaker Tells Students: You Don’t Have To Become Doctor Or Engineer, Sports Life Is Beautiful

Chennai: Everyone doesn’t have to become an engineer or a doctor to have a beautiful life. Pursuing sports also offers a beautiful life, according to double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker. At the age of 22, Bhaker scripted history with two Olympic bronze medals at the Paris Olympics 2024 in shooting, making up for a forgettable debut in Tokyo three years ago.

Crisscrossing the country since returning from Paris, Bhaker was in the southern metropolis on Tuesday, exhorting students to try making a career out of sports. “My journey, coming from the Tokyo Olympics, it was very difficult for me to be confident again.

“I was world number two, but I did not do good in it,” said Bhaker at a felicitation event by the Velammal Nexus School. “I know the taste of losing and then winning. It’s the beauty of sports. One competition you lose, and you can win the other. But, it would only happen if you put in hard work.”

While she became the first Indian athlete to win two Olympic medals in a single edition in Paris, Bhaker also became the first female shooter to win a medal at the Games. Urging young students to take up sports as career options, Bhaker emphasised on ‘dreaming big’ and ‘hard work’.

“To achieve the goal, we must put in a lot of hard work and effort. It doesn’t always start with aiming for something big, you also have to work to achieve it. If you can dream big, you can achieve big. So, always start by dreaming big.

“I always tell myself that no matter if I win or lose in any competition, I’ll always be very confident and hold myself high and together, and be very confident. We have many career options. You don’t have to become a doctor or an engineer. Sports life is a beautiful life. From financial support to any kind of it, you get everything in sports,” she asserted.

Bhaker, who won a bronze each in the women’s 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team event — where she had paired with Sarabjot Singh — weighed in on the role of her parents in inspiring her. “My inspiration came from my mother. She made me the way I am today. She told me to take inspiration, but not to become like anyone else. Without parents’ support, a child cannot do much,” she said.

“My shooting career and journey started at my school. In any sporting career, the beginning happens first from home, and then from school. All the parents and teachers play a very significant role in what you become and what you do with your life.”

With Agency Inputs