India’s ace shooter, the 26-year-old Abhinav Bindra has won a first-ever individual Olympic Gold medal for his country. At the Beijing Shooting Range, Bindra won the gold in the 10m Air Rifle event by scoring 700.5 points in the final.
The last time India won a gold was in the 1980 Moscow Olympics when the hockey team lifted the medal.
Anirban Roy posts details on Abhinav’s victory in the Reuters blog:
Abhinav Bindra won India’s first ever individual Olympic gold medal on Monday with a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the men’s 10m air rifle.
Bindra had been fourth after qualifying but had a brilliant final round and even hit a near perfect 10.8 on his last shot to pull in front of Henri Hakkinen of Finland, who dropped to bronze with a poor final shot of 9.7.
That allowed China’s Zhu Qinan, the defending Olympic champion and heavy favourite, to pass him on his final shot and win the silver medal.
“It’s just great,” Bindra told Reuters just before climbing on to the podium.
Check out Abhinav’s blog, Abhinav Bindra’s Road to Beijing at: http://abhinavbindra.blogspot.com/ to leave him a message of congratualations, or post a comment here and we’ll forward it to him.
Back home in India, there’s euphoria in college canteens and office cubicles, reports IANS (via Hindustan Times)
As the national anthem played and the Indian tricolour rose high when Abhinav Bindra received India’s first individual Olympic gold medal in Beijing on Monday, euphoria erupted in college canteens and office cubicles back home.
Anjan Katna, who works with Emergent Ventures in Gurgaon in the capital’s outskirts, said the entire office broke into loud applause as soon as they saw the news about Bindra’s success being flashed on TV channels in the morning.
A Doon School alumn, Abhinav Bindra has been profiled briefly in Hindustan Times here or check his Wiki profile here.
And here’s the YouTube clip of Bindra receiving his medal
