Idea of fame fascinated me: Abhinav

BEIJING: Why did Abhinav Bindra, India's only individual Olympic gold medal winner, take to shooting?
    
"Because I liked the idea of fame", said Bindra soon after firing his way into Olympic immortality here on Monday.
    
Son of a successful businessman in Punjab, Abhinav began praticing shooting at the age of 15 and his father's financial standing provided him with the best competition and training equipment.
    
Bindra said he has an air-conditioned shooting range with a totally computerised Target Transportation System of international standards".
     
After the disappointment in Athens Olympics in 2004, Bindra shot into international fame by winning the gold medal at the World Championships in Zagreb two years later.
    
Prior to that, he had bagged the bronze at the Munich World Cup and competed as the youngest shooter at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 at the age of 18 and became the youngest Indian to represent India at an Olympic Games where he had to remain content without a medal.