Abhinav Bindra doesn’t need any introduction if you are an Indian or an Indian Sports lover. The Ace Indian Sport Shooter won India their first ever individual Olympic Gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. His Olympic medal was 7th Individual medal by any Indian Athlete, 5th for Independent India. If we add the team medals as well, this was 19th, 14th for Independent India.
Bindra specialized in 10 M Air-rifle shooting and brought India this Olympic gold medal after a gap of 28 years & 7 Olympic Games. In addition to his Olympic and World Championship Gold medal, he would have a rich haul of 7 Commonwealth Games medals across 5 editions and 3 Asian Games medals.
Abhinav Bindra would pick the air-rifle during his schooling at the Doon School and at 15, he would participate at the Kuala Lumpur 1998 Commonwealth Games, the youngest Indian Athlete at the event. Two years later, at the Sydney 2000 Summer Games, he’d be the youngest Indian in the contingent. He would go on to be part of Indian Olympic Contingent for 5 editions of Games.
Personal
| NAME | Abhinav Bindra |
| COUNTRY | India |
| GENDER | Male |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 28, 1982 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India |
| FATHER’S NAME | Apjit Bindra |
| MOTHER’S NAME | Babli Bindra |
| SIBLING’S NAME | Divya Bindra |
| PROFILE TYPE | Former Sportsperson, Businessman |
Social
Sport Profile
| SPORT | Shooting |
| DISCIPLINE | Men’s 10 M Air Rifle |
| SPORTS TYPE | Individual Sport |
| ACTIVE/RETIRED | Retired |
| HEIGHT | 5 Feet 8 Inches |
| LEVEL | National, International |
| COACH | Dr. Amit Bhattacharjeee, Lt. Col. Dhillon, Gabriele Buhlmann |
| TEAMS | India |
Post Retirement
He founded Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance which provides advanced physiotherapy and rehabilitation services to sportspersons. His Abhinav Bindra Foundation supports athletes, providing them with the latest sports technology and high-performance physical training for free.
Achievements/Records
1. The first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games
2. 4 Gold Medals at Four consecutive Commonwealth Games in the 10M air-rifle event.
3. Gold medal at the 2006 Zagreb ISSF World Shooting Championship.
4. Gold medal at Beijing 2008 Olympics
5. The first and only Indian athlete, who held both the World and Olympic titles at the same time
6. Prestigious Blue Cross the ISSF’s highest shooting honor in 2018
7. The youngest recipient of Indian’s highest sporting award Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2001.
8. Bindra chaired the ISSF Athletes Committee for 8 years
9. Member of IOC Athletes’ Commission.
Awards
1. Arjuna Award in 2000
2. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2002
3. Padma Bhushan in 2009
4. He was made honorary lieutenant colonel by the Indian Territorial Army in 2011.
References
1. Top 5 Indian Performances at Beijing Olympics