Manu Bhaker Shares How Detoxing from Social Media and Smartphones Helped Her at the Paris Olympics

Manu Bhaker has emerged as India's Olympic hero, having made the country very proud by winning two bronze medals in the Paris Olympics. Manu Bhaker earned bronze medals in the Women's singles 10m air pistol and Mixed Team events in the same shooting series, partnering Sarabjot Singh. 

Thus, Manu Bhaker became the first athlete from Independent India to win two Olympic medals in a single Games. She was aiming for even more fame, becoming the first Indian to win three individual Olympic golds. However, her dream was cut short as she placed fourth in the Women's 25m pistol, missing out on a record third medal by one shot. She created history with her impeccable performance in the Paris Olympics 2024 and made India proud; many more heroics are anticipated from Bhaker in future years. 

Manu Bhaker discusses how giving up social media and smartphones improved her performance at the Paris Olympics 2024

Manu Bhaker revealed in an exclusive interview with Republic Media Network how her remarkable achievement at the Paris Olympics 2024 was much influenced by avoiding the usage of smartphones and social media throughout the Games. Her shooting improved greatly avoiding the blue light, and her coach, Jaspal Rana, helped her stay focused for efficient and effective performance. Manu Bhaker, on living without a smartphone, revealed: 

“Oh, no they can, they can it's just initially you will have to put in a lot of effort but later on you'll get used to it and you'll actually enjoy life a lot more. And, I'm kind of used to it, like, easy, like starting everything, maintaining really time, walking out and everything since childhood because of my karate, boxing and all that. 

He (Her coach) was very strict. No social media for you on the game. So. Yeah. So even after my first medal, I was not allowed to, you know, talk to anybody other than my friends. Nobody else. And social media of course was all.”

Furthermore, Manu Bhaker says she is happy with her athletic career as her sport has shaped her identity and given her great chances and experiences like international travel without any regrets. Bhaker said: 

“No, actually, I feel like, I couldn't have asked for more. So having this life was a blessing for me because my sport has given me, like, who am I today? Is because of my my sport. It's, It has given me the opportunity to travel the world, which I absolutely love. I love traveling, then it has given me so much in life I can ask for more. And I do not regret making any decision so far. So for me, it's more like, you just keep doing this for as long as you can.”