A minuscule pellet fired from Abhinav Bindra’s Walther has forever torn asunder the choking barrier that has been Indian sport’s bane for so long.
Wins first individual Olympic gold for India
A minuscule pellet fired from Abhinav Bindra’s Walther has forever torn asunder the choking barrier that has been Indian sport’s bane for so long. His gold in the men’s 10m rifle is the only one an individual from a nation of a billion has managed in 29 Olympic Games.
Bindra went into the finals placed fourth after the qualifying as in this event it is the cumulative score that counts. After the first one he had moved to third, by the fourth he was second and by strike seven he was number one. The crunch came when the penultimate shot had him and China’s Qinan Zhu – Athens Gold winner and favourite – draw level. The quest for gold is built on nerves of steel. One final squeeze of that trigger stood between being top-gun or just another silver. Bindra smacked a 10.8 — his best shot of the day — while Zhu fell to a 10.5.
That crack of his weapon will forever reverberate in the history of Indian sport. He had smashed the silly belief that Indians lack killer instinct by posing to the Chinese an ask that was incredible to better. After all the best possible shot is a 10.9.
This quiet philosophical man of 25 comes from an affluent family. He lives on the outskirts of Chandigarh in a mansion guarded by fierce dogs and peopled by white-gloved bearers. Son of a successful businessman, Bindra lacks nothing material in life. Still he spent the last 12 years of his life closeted away in his own personal range in the backyard shooting holes in a square of paper with a black centre.
The family has been holding prayers in a gurudwara for the last two days. Before he came to Beijing the mantelpiece in the drawing room was cleared of all his past medallions. It stood bare awaiting what destiny had in store.
Fate tested Bindra till the end. He had gone for a toilet break and left his gun untended after the qualifying round. He fired his first practice shot in the final to find that the sight had been tampered with. That shot was a 4 — suicidal for even junior state championships, let alone the Olympics. Bindra showed the mettle of a champion to adjust the sight, breathe in deep and settle into a rhythm that would shake the very firmament of Indian sport.
This man is possibly the best ambassador ever for Olympic sport. He is very much the philosopher king – quiet to a fault and meticulous of thought. A simple clenching of the fist and a shy smile was his response to Indian sport’s golden moment.
“I have lived for this moment the last ten years. But I doubt it will change me. Life goes on,” was the disarming response later. Bindra spent the night with a bunch of close friends running away from the hounding media. He had promised them that if he won a medal he would sit at dinner bare-chested in a five star hotel with just the medal on.
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