'Within 2-3 days the upper layer started coming off': Manu Bhaker on her historic Paris Olympic medals losing sheen

Manu Bhaker (Pic: AFP)

With the Paris Games medals losing their sheen barely months after being awarded to athletes, India's shooting star Manu Bhaker says there is "no bigger souvenir" for a sportsperson than an Olympic medal and it's quality should be top-notch.

The shiny top layer of the two bronze medals, won by Bhaker in women's 10m air pistol and 10m mixed team with Sarabjot Singh, peeled off exposing the core. She along with several athletes around the world have highlighted the issue of damaged medals and called for their replacement.

At the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday, as she basked in the glory of winning the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the 22-year-old ace shooter confirmed that the top layer of her medals had indeed peeled off, which seemed to have left her quite upset.

"Soon after we got the medals, within 2-3 days the upper layer started coming off. I can say this after seeing my medal whose top coating has come off. I feel that the Olympic medals are something to be cherished for life because a very big memory is associated with with that medal," said Bhaker during a media interaction after receiving the Khel Ratna.

"I think there is no bigger souvenir than that in an athlete's career. The quality should be really top notch and if the IOC (International Olympic Committee) is replacing it, then it's a very good decision because a lot of athletes in India and other countries have complained and many of them are very upset as well," she added.

Damaged medals will be systematically replaced by the Monnaie de Paris (the French state mint) and engraved in an identical way to the originals, the IOC said earlier this week.

Bhaker took a break from competitions following her Paris success, skipping the year-end World Cup Finals and the national championships but with the 2028 Los Angeles Games in mind she has been training in earnest for the past couple of months.

"Yes, I've started my training; it's been two-and-a-half months. I'm sure I'll have my fair share of ups and downs (in the run-up to the 2028 Olympics)... that's how life goes. I'm mentally prepared for that," she said.

The ace shooter would be targeting the numerous World Cups this year and the World Championships and Asian Games in 2026.

She said the Khel Ratna would definitely motivate her to change the colour of her medal in Los Angeles.

"Definitely the Khel Ratna is one of the most prestigious awards in the country and it's an honour for me. I am really grateful to all the people who supported me in this journey.

"Looking forward, this is going to motivate me further. I will try my best to work even harder and perform even better. Changing the colour of the medal, that is the goal. I'll have to really work very hard," said Bhaker, who is looking to "update" her 25m pistol with the latest version of Pardini.

Every year, the award ceremony comes with its share of controversies. While several Paris Games medal-winning para athletes were unhappy with their names being ignored for the Khel Ratna, Bhaker's name too was missing from the initial list of nominees.

Bhaker said the award selection panel would have followed due processes but sometimes errors can happen.

"The selection committee too would be taking a decision after putting in a lot of thought. Somewhere, some little bhool chook reh jaati hai (errors and omissions can happen).

"I'm sure they would be working to rectify that. I hope in future too they will take even better decisions," said Bhaker, who added that she will continue to work with legendary shooter-turned-coach Jaspal Rana for the LA Games.

Bhaker added that her focus would be divided equally between 10m air pistol and 25m sports pistol in the run-up to the next Games.

"Yes, I have always shot both the events and both are my favourites. You can't differentiate between your kids, can you? I really love both the events, I'll be working on both of them," she added.

(With agency inputs)