Handgun ace Manu Bhaker today became the toast of the country for the second time in three days by carving out Olympic history as the first Indian to win two medals in the same edition of the Games post- independence here.

The 22-year-old Haryana-born sharpshooter clinched the 10m air pistol mixed team event’s bronze medal with fellow-Haryanvi Sarabjot Singh, who is also 22 years old.

The Indian pair outfoxed their South Korean rival pair of Oh Ye Jin and the left-handed Lee Wonho 16-10 in the bronze medal match.

Jhajjar-born Manu has already pocketed the individual bronze in the same shooting event two days ago which was also the first shooting medal by an Indian woman in Olympic history at the Chateauroux Shooting Center outside Paris.

“The feeling is surreal. I had not hoped to win two medals in a single Olympics. Now I am looking forward to the next (third) one,” said Manu after completing her epochal feat.

She was referring to her chance of picking up a third medal in Paris, in the 25m air pistol event in which she is competing on August 2 (qualification). The finals are scheduled for the next day.

“Whenever I leave India for any competition, the only thing in my head is to give my best and to do everything possible to maintain my performance. The Olympics is a special stage, with so many people watching it. With the Tokyo Olympics experience (behind me) I realise how special winning this is. So many people supported me. I can’t claim this medal just for myself. The entire country supported me,” Manu told reporters after her feat.

Manu has thus gone into the country’s Olympic history as the third athlete after independence to clinch two medals.

Wrestler Sushil Kumar had won a bronze medal in 2008 Beijing and converted it to silver four years later in London.

Later shuttler P V Sindhu won silver in Rio in 2016 followed by a bronze in Tokyo in the last Games. She is bidding for her third medal here.

Incidentally, Norman Pritchard, an Englishman born and living in India, had won two athletics silver medals in the 1900 Games, coincidentally held in this City of Light. Those silver medals are now credited to India by the International Olympic Committee.

Coming back to Manu’s record breaking feat today, Manu and Sarabjot, from Ambala, pinched the bronze after the 13th shot after having taken a solid 14-6 lead after the tenth shot.

In the race to 16 points, the Indians were well ahead at the halfway mark before finally crossing the finish line ahead of the Koreans.

Manu was on target from the beginning with successive scores of 10.2, 10.7, 10.4, 10.7, 10.5, 10.0 and 10.6 before she flagged a bit by notching up only 8.3. However, she recovered poise soon to come up with 10.0 and 10.5, slipped to 9.6 and then ended up with her last two scores of 10.6 and 9.4.

Sarabjot, on the other hand, had a nervy start to his run with a score of 8.6 and then followed it up with a sequence 10.5, 10.4, 10.0, 9.6, 10.2, 9.4, 10.2, 10.5, 10.2 and 9.7. He ended up strongly with scores of 10.2 and 102.

Both shooters had their Mongolian-born Germany coach Munkhbayer Dorjsuren to guide them through some anxious moments.

Manu now has a chance to become the first Indian to claim three medals as she is taking part in the 25m event too for individuals.

The qualification is set for August 2 and the medal round is a day later.