Abhinav Bindra will forever hold a place in sporting history as India’s first individual gold medallist at the Olympics.
Abhinav Singh Bindra is an Indian shooter and is a World and Olympic champion in the 10 m Air Rifle event. By winning the gold in the 10 m Air Rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games.
The Indian shooter went to the 1998 Commonwealth Games as a 15-year-old and then travelled to the Sydney Olympics in 2000 as the youngest Indian participant. He is the first and only Indian to have held both the World and Olympic titles at the same time, a feat he accomplished by capturing the Gold Medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
He won six gold medals at various events and won bronze at the World Cup, setting a then-junior record score. He then won gold in the 10m air rifle pairs and silver in the singles at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
Abhinav Bindra set a new Olympic record in the 10m air rifle event during the qualification round at the Athens 2004 Olympics, but could not find his best form in the finals and finished outside of the podium places.
After an enforced layoff with a back injury, Bindra returned in 2006, winning gold at the ISSF World Championships and scored 10.8 with his last attempt – his highest score of the finals – to see off the challenge of Hakkinen and secure victory.
He was bestowed with the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour, as recognition for his efforts in 2009. The 2014 Commonwealth Games yielded him yet another gold before his Olympic swansong at Rio 2016.
In 2014, Abhinav Bindra joined the GoSports Foundation, Bangalore as a member of their board of advisors.
After hanging up his rifle for good, Bindra turned his attention to the field of business as he obtained a BBA degree from the University of Colorado and was awarded two honorary doctorate degrees in literature and philosophy by the SRM and Kaziranga Universities.
He started a non-profit organization called the Abhinav Bindra Foundation, an initiative whose aim was to make athletes stronger and more aware using sports science and technology. Apart from this, the ex-shooter has also given back to the sport in other ways.
He was part of the International Sport Shooting Federation (ISSF) and International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Athlete Commissions where he has brought the participants’ issues to the fore and helped them in their development.
He has even released his autobiography titled ‘A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold’ detailing his training methods and constant drive which eventually landed him where no Indian had gone before.
Awards: In 2000, he won the Arjuna Award. In 2001, Abhinav Bindra was awarded with the highest sports award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna. In 2009, the flagbearer won Padma Bhushan. In 2011, he was awarded with Honorary Lieutenant Colonel by Indian Territorial Army.
Awards for 2008 Olympic Gold Medal: He was given 15 million by Mittal Champions Trust, 5 million cash prize by Central Govt, 2.5 million cash prize by the state government of Haryana, 2.5 million cash prize by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and 1.5 million cash prize by Steel Ministry of India.
He was also awarded with 1.1 million cash prize by the state government of Bihar. The Patna Indoor Stadium will be renamed after Abhinav Bindra. 1 million prize was also awarded by the state government of Karnataka. Apart from that, 1 million cash prize was given by S. Amolak Singh Gakhal, Chairman Golds Gym, 1 million cash prize by Chief Minister of Maharashtra state, 500000 cash prize by state government of Orissa, 500000 cash prize by Government of Tamil Nadu, 100000 cash prize by the state government of Chhattisgarh and 100000 cash prize by the state government of Madhya Pradesh. Also, a free lifetime railway pass was given by the Railway Ministry of India and a Gold medal was given by the state government of Kerala. 1.5 million cash award was also given to him by Pune Municipal Corporation.
