Manu Bhaker. | (Credits: Instagram)
Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker feels she has erred on filing for the nominations for the Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, breaking silence on reports of being excluded for the list. However, the 22-year-old said she remains motivated to perform well on the biggest stage, regardless of whether she wins the award or not.
Having won two bronze medals in the Paris Olympics this year, the athlete’s name has reportedly been missing from the nominations list of one of the most prestigious accolades in sport. Her father Ram Kishan Bhaker has lashed out on the committee for not considering their application despite applying and went on to say during an interview with Times of India that he should have made her daughter a cricketer.
Taking to X, Manu stressed that awards and nominations are not her goal and that she is motivated regardless.
“With regards to ongoing issue for my nomination for the most prestigious Khel Ratna award – I would like to state that as an athlete my role is to play and perform my country. Awards and recognition keeps me motivated but are not my goal. I believe there has been a lapse maybe on my part while filing for the nomination which is being corrected. Irrespective of the award, I remain motivated to win more medals for my country. It is a request to everyone, please do not speculate more on this matter.”
“She won two Olympic medals in a single edition, no one has ever done that” – Manu Bhaker’s father
In an explosive interview with TOI, Manu Bhaker’s father hit out on the committee for not recognising her effort enough, saying:
“I regret putting her in the sport of shooting. I should have instead made her a cricketer. Then, all the awards and accolades would have come her way. She won two Olympic medals in a single edition, no one has ever done that. What else do you expect my child to do for the country? The govt must recognise her efforts.”
Nevertheless, according to PTI, the Sports Ministry is yet to unveil the final list of the nominations and the youngster could yet find her name in the final list. Harmanpreet Singh, who captained Indian men’s hockey team to bronze in the Olympics, is reportedly amongst the nominee and so is para-athlete Praveen Kumar, who won gold in the high jump T64 class.
