Abhinav Bindra, India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist

Abhinav Bindra was India’s first individual gold medallist at the Olympics. The retired sports shooter achieved the feat in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Bindra shot India to glory in the 10- meter air rifle event. His gold was the country’s first since winning the hockey event in 1980. 

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On Saturday, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra became a part of Abhinav Bindra’s elite club when the 23-year-old won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. 

“And Gold it is for @Neeraj_chopra1. Take a bow, young man! You have fulfilled a nation’s dream. Thank you! Also, welcome to the club – a much-needed addition! Extremely proud. I am so delighted for you,” Bindra tweeted, congratulating Neeraj Chopra. 

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Who is Abhinav Bindra?

Born in Dehradun, Abhinav Bindra studied at the Doon school. In 1988, at the age of 15, Bindra became the youngest participant in the 1998 Commonwealth Games. He was also the youngest Indian at the 2000 Summer Olympics. At the 2000 Olympics, he achieved a score of 590, placing him 11th in the qualification round. However, he failed to qualify for the finals. He was also honored with the Arjuna Award that year.

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Bindra won his first medal, a bronze, at the Munich World Cup in 2001. The medal triggered six more podium finishes and a young Abhinav Bindra ended up receiving the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. 

He was the first Indian to concurrently the world and Olympic titles for the men’s 10-meter air rifle event. He won the Olympics event in 2008 and 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships. Bindra has also won nine medals at the Commonwealth Games and three medals at the Asian Games.

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He finished his 22-year career with 150 medals. His last Olympic appearance, 2016 in Rio, saw him finish fourth. Bindra is the recipient of the Padma Bhushan. 

He runs the Abhinav Bindra Foundation, a non-profit organization that works to integrate sports, science, and technology into Indian sports and encourage high-performance physical training. Bindra is also currently a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission.