Abhinav Bindra: The first Indian to get a gold medal

The first Indian to get a gold medal in Olympics in an individual event.

Background

Abhinav Bindra comes from an affluent Sikh Khatri family. His parents, Dr. Apjit and Babli Bindra, are promoters of the Hitech Group of companies which has a turnover of Rs. 300 crores (US $75 million). The group has interests in agro & dog food processing, computer gaming, livestock genetics and pharmaceuticals.

He was born on September 28, 1982 at Dehradun. He studied at the Doon school, Dehradun till the 8th standard (topping the difficult entrance exam) and then left for St. Stephens School Chandigarh to pursue shooting. He earned his BBA from the University of Colorado.

He did his shooting training in Germany. He practiced for 12-14 hours a day at the shooting range that he owns at his farmhouse near Chandigarh.

International performance.

He won six medals at various international meets in 2001. In the 10 m Air rifle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Manchester, he won Gold in the Pairs event and Silver in the individual event.

At the 2004 Olympic Games, he scored 597 in the qualification round and was placed third behind Qinan Zhu (599 - Olympic Record) and Li Jie (598). In the finals, Abhinav finished with 97.6 p oints, last in the field of eight and was the only player below 100 points. His sub-par finals dropped him from third to seventh.

At the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, he won the Gold in the Pairs event and the Bronze in the Singles event. He missed the 2006 Asian Games at Doha because of a back injury.

He received the Arjuna award in 2000 and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (India's highest sports award) in 2001.

Winning Shot

Bindra booked his place in the 2008 Olympics by winning the gold medal at the 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championship with a score of 699.1 At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra won the gold for the Men's 10 meter Air Rifle final after shooting a total of 700.5. He scored 596 (fourth) in the qualifying round and out-scored all other shooters in the finals with a round of 104.5. In the finals, he started with a shot of 10.7, and none of his shots were below 10.0. Bindra was tied with Henri Hakkinen heading into his final shot. Bindra scored his highest of the finals - 10.8 (A Bull's eye) while Hakkinen came with 9.7 to settle for Bronze medal.

This was India's first individual gold medal at the Olympics, and the first gold in 28 years, since the Men's Hockey team won the gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Bindra is rewarded by various Indian state governments and private organizations for his achievement. These include the state governments of Punjab - Rs. One crore, Harayana - Rs. 25 lacs, Maharashtra Rs. 10 Lacs, Karnataka Rs. 10 Lacs, Tamilnadu - Rs 5 lacs, Madhya Pradesh - Rs. 5 lacs, and Chandigarh 5 lacs.

Other organization that rewarded Bindra include Chandigarh civic administration - Rs. 5 lacs, BCCI Rs. 25 lacs. and Samsung Rs. 20 lacs. Indian Railways has rewarded him with lifelong free pass for himself & one companion in First AC. Spicejet Airways has offered him lifelong free flight.