Before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra made it very clear that he wouldn’t be going for mere participation in the quadrennial games. His Olympic debut came as a teenager in Sydney (2000) and in the next edition of the games in Athens (2004) he was unlucky and finished seventh.

“I have by my side the credit of participating in two Olympic Games and the experience should be more than enough for earning me an Olympian tag. Now, my sole aim would be to win an Olympic medal and I would be going to Beijing only if I feel I can make it to the podium finish,” Abhinav had said in an interaction before the Beijing Games.

On August 11, 2008, Abhinav created history by clinching the first-ever individual Olympic gold in the country’s 112-year old Olympic history.

The mental barrier that Abhinav broke with his golden triumph had changed the face of Indian sports. Before Beijing, the ultimate target for Indian sportspersons was a podium finish, but post-Beijing, the target changed to gold.

“When I took to shooting, winning an Olympic gold was an unrealistic dream as at that time the country didn’t have an individual Olympic gold and nor did I have a readymade path to follow to achieve the ultimate goal. I continuously worked for years to achieve it.”  

Recalling Beijing triumph

During the sighting time, before the finals in Beijing, Abhinav had 4.8 in the first shot and just had a one 10 before taking an aim in the finals. “That was really a tough moment I had gone through minutes just before winning the gold. When I fired 4.8 in the sighting time, I came under pressure for a moment and the first thing that came across my mind was that in Athens I lost the medal without my fault as the platform I was shooting from was not stable and this time too I might lose the medal. I would not have any answer to justify what had really happened. But then I realised that there was some fault in my weapon and I corrected it,” remembered Abhinav. 
And as they say, rest is ‘golden’ history.