Manu's script

Teen sensation to Tokyo dud to the Paris podium twice, Manu Bhaker's story is biopic fodder and an inspiration to many. And at 22, the Haryana shooter, THE WEEK's Woman of the Year for 2024, has only begun writing her story

- SALIL BERA AND NILADRY SARKAR

Easy not an option, no days off, never quit, be fearless.... But give me a big stage, a fight, a challenge, and something happens-I get real. I walk an inch taller.

-Usain Bolt, in his autobiography Usain Bolt: Faster Than Lightning

It was a serene winter morning in 2014. Students at the Universal Senior Secondary School, in Haryana's Jhajjar district, had just finished their daily prayer. All of a sudden, one of the sports teachers, dramatically, began his own prayer. He asked the school's principal, Sumedha Bhaker, to not send her daughter to Kota for medical coaching. Taken aback by this public request, Sumedha suggested he meet her in her office afterwards.

Just a few days back, Anil Jakhar had witnessed something extraordinary: 13-year-old Manu had picked up a gun for the first time, out of curiosity, and had struck the bullseye. Moved by a profound conviction, Jakhar, a former Army man and the school's shooting instructor, knew he had seen a spark. "There are so many doctors in India," he told Sumedha. "But there will be only one Manu Bhaker if you allow her to pursue shooting. She is destined to win a medal at the Olympics."

Initially hesitant, Sumedha, a Sanskrit teacher who held her faith in academics, was eventually moved by the man's words.

"Manu was different from other girls," Jakhar told THE WEEK. "She was physically stronger, more confident and very articulate. She would always compete with everyone, and even beat them on most occasions."