Gold Medal for India in Olympics

First Gold Medal for India in Beijing Olympics 2008 was clinched by Abhinav Bindra in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle event. By winning the gold in the 10 m Air Rifle event, he became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games and the first gold medal since 1980 when the Men's Field Hockey Team won the gold

Abhinav Bindra won the gold after a total of 700.5; He scored 596 (fourth) scored in the qualifying round and all other outside shooters in the final round of a 104.5.h, the first for the country in the shooting, air rifle with an impressive performance in the final on Monday (11/08/08).Abhinav Singh Bindra comes from an affluent Punjabi family belongs to Zirakpur, His parents, Dr. Apjit and Babli Bindra, are promoters of the Hitech Group of companies. The group has a turnover of Rs. 300 crores (US $75 million) with interests in agro- and dogfood-processing, computer gaming, livestock genetics and pharmaceuticals. Bindra has one sister - Divya, a fashion designer, married into the family that owns Atlas Cycles. Bindra studied at the Doon School, Dehradun till the 8th standard and then left for St. Stephens School, Chandigarh. He earned his BBA from the University of Colorado



International performance

Bindra won six medals at various international meets in 2001. In the 10 m Air rifle event at the Commonwealth Games at 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 points, 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. Abhinav missed the 2006 Asian Games at Doha because of a back injury.

Bindra was the youngest participant at age 15 in the 1998 Community Games. Bindra shot under the spotlights having won bronze in 2001 Munich World Cup with a new junior world record result of 597/600, gold in 2002 Manchester Games community; later became the first Indian to win a world championship gold; Abhinav Bindra is among the brightest stars of a new breed of talented Indian shooters.

During a purple patch, Bindra won six gold medals in various international meets in the Bahrain International Circuit in 2001. uring the 2004 Athens Olympics, despite the distortions of Olympic records Bindra failed to win a medal. , But for 24 - July 2006, Bindra later became the first Indian to win a World Championship gold in Zagreb. Karni Singh silver in 1962 was the best of the previous Indian in the World Championship meet.

Awards and recognitions

Arjuna award in 2000Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (India's highest sports award) in 2001

Photo Gallery - Abhinav Bindra

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