India’s ace pistol shooter Manu Bhaker, who won the country two bronze medals in the Paris Olympic Games, has had to face certain issues off the field, with several brands using her photos illegally while congratulating her for her accomplishments. As per a report, legal notices have been sent to multiple brands over their act, with Manu Bhaker’s team suggesting that those not associated with the Indian shooter formally had no right to release congratulatory ads on social media featuring her.

Neerav Tomar, Managing Director of IOS Sports & Entertainment, which manages Bhaker told Econoic Times: “Almost two dozen brands not affiliated with Manu have released congratulatory ads on social media featuring her images. This constitutes unauthorised ‘moment marketing,’ and legal notices will be served to these brands.”

Manu Bhaker’s case isn’t an isolated one, with several other Indian athletes in the Paris Games also facing similar issues with non-associated brands.

“Brands that do not sponsor our athletes cannot legally use their images in advertisements. If they do, we will take strict legal action,” said a spokesperson from Baseline Ventures, the firm that represents boxer Nikhat Zareen and badminton players Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy.

Manu Bhaker Makes History In Paris Games

A good 124 years after British-Indian Norman Pritchard won silver medals in 200m sprint and 200m hurdles, incidentally also in a Paris edition of the Games, Bhaker became the first athlete in post-independent India to snare two individual medals in the same Olympics.

Her performance, which also includes a 10m air pistol individual bronze won on Sunday, left the country joint 28th with Moldova in the medals table.

Bhaker combined with an equally unruffled Sarabjot in the 10m air pistol mixed team bronze and gave a superb demonstration of how to control nerves in a high-pressure situation.

The Indian pair defeated the Korean duo of Lee Wonoho and Oh Yeh Jin 16-10. It just added to Bhaker’s growth story as she completely wiped off the memories of a horrendous Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020 where her pistol malfunctioned leaving her in tears.

And it’s not over yet. She remains in contention for another podium finish — in the 25m sports pistol event, the qualification for which will take place on August 2.

With PTI Inputs