Realising the Olympic dream
NANDITA SRIDHAR
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Abhinav Bindra winning the gold marked his evolution from a teenage prodigy to an Olympic champion.
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“The nature of my sport is such that I have to try and be in control.”
Photo: AFP
On the victory stand : (From L) Silver winner Zhu Qinan of China, gold winner Abhinav Bindra of India and bronze winner Henri Hakkinen of Finland.
Abhinav Bindra stood calm and composed, as the national anthem in the background symbolised the nation’s biggest sporting moment. Independent India’s first ever individual gold medal came through the sustained efforts of a 25-year-old shooter who showed remarkable self-composure in the final round of the 10m Air Rifle competition. “I just went for the shot. It was my day,” said the champion.
Bindra’s success marked his evolution from a teenage prodigy to an Olympic champion. As is the case of any achievement of this magnitude, the journey to it hasn’t been easy.
Bindra missed a place in the 2000 Sydney Olympics final by one shot, and finished seventh at Athens in 2004.
Grit and determination
Photo: AP
Women’s weightlifting: Karnam Malleswari.
A back injury forced him into pulling out of the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. Back then, Bindra’s condition worsened and merely picking up the air rifle (which weighs five kg) was a challenge. Undeterred, Bindra worked at recovering and regaining his strength to compete. A year of frustration later, he was on his way to realising his Olympic dream.
Having qualified for the final, Bindra made the most of the opportunity with a nerveless display. “The nature of my sport is such that I have to try and be in control. I was happy. The real thrill was to perform well and that was what gave me pleasure. Winning or losing is part of the game. You compete 10 times but you win once,” Bindra told a news channel.
“I shot a very good fire. There was no wobbly round. I was pretty consistent throughout. I had a 10 on my last shot. I went for it and I took the risk, that was my strategy and luckily for me it worked.”
India’s Olympic medalists
Gold: Abhinav Bindra
(Shooting, Beijing 2008).
Silver: Rajyavardhan Rathore
(Shooting, Athens 2004).
Bronze: Karnam Malleswari
(Weightlifting, Sydney 2000)
Leander Paes (Tennis, Atlanta 1996)
K.D. Jadhav (Wrestling, Helsinki 1952).
The gold, silver, and bronze Olympic medal shooters in the 10 metre air rifle (60 shots) from previous Summer Olympic games.
2004 Athens: GOLD Qinan Zhu, CHN; SILVER Jie Li, CHN; BRONZE Jozef Gonci, SVK;
2000 Sydney: GOLD Yalin Cai, CHN; SILVER Artem Khadjibekov, RUS; BRONZE Evgeni Aleinikov, RUS;
1996 Atlanta: GOLD Artem Khadjibekov, RUS; SILVER Wolfram Waibel Jr, AUT; BRONZE Johann Riederer Amat, FRA;
1992 Barcelona: GOLD Iouri Fedkine, EUN; SILVER Franck Badiou, FRA; BRONZE Johann Riederer, GER;
1988 Seoul: GOLD Goran Maksimovic, YUG; SILVER Nicolas Berthelot, FRA; BRONZE Johann Riederer, FRG;
1984 Los Angeles: GOLD Philippe Heberle, FRA; SILVER Andreas Kronthaler, AUT; BRONZE Barry Edward Dagger, GBR;
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