Abhinav Bindra.html



Abhinav Bindra
Born	September 28, 1982 (1982-09-28) (age 26)1. Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand
Residence	Zirakpur, Punjab (India)
Nationality	Indian
Other names	ABcitation needed
Ethnicity	Punjabi
Citizenship	Indian
Education	Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
Alma mater	University of Colorado
Occupation	Sportsman (Shooter)
Height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in) (As of August 2008[update])
Weight	65.5 kg (144 lb) (As of August 2008[update])
Board member of	Abhinav Futuristics
Parents	Apjit Bindra Babli Bindra

Medal record
Competitor for  India
Men's shooting
Olympic Games
Gold	2008 Beijing	Men's 10 m air rifle
ISSF World Shooting Championships
Gold	2006 Zagreb	Men's 10 m Air Rifle
Commonwealth Games
Gold	2002 Manchester	Men's 10m Air Rifle (Pairs)
Silver	2002 Manchester	Men's 10m Air Rifle (Singles)
Gold	2006 Melbourne	Men's 10m Air Rifle (Pairs)
Bronze	2006 Melbourne	Men's 10m Air Rifle (Singles)

Abhinav Bindra (Punjabi: ਅਭਿਨਵ ਬਿੰਦਰਾ, born September 28, 1982¹) is an Indian shooter from Zirakpur, Mohali, Punjab and is the current World and Olympic champion in the 10 m Air Rifle event. By winning the gold in the 10 m Air Rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games and India's first gold medal since 1980, when the Men's Field Hockey Team won the gold.²³

Career

Early years

Abhinav Bindra was born in an affluent Sikh Punjabi family.⁴ His parents, Dr. AS and Babli Bindra, even had an indoor shooting range installed at their home in Punjab.⁵⁶ Bindra's potential talent was first spotted by his first coach Lt. Col. J.S. Dhillon⁷⁸. Bindra was the youngest Indian participant at the 2000 Olympic Games.⁶ His current coach is Gabriela Buhlmann from Basel, Switzerland, with whom he trained in Germany before the Olympics. In the 2000 Olympics he achieved a score of 590 placing him 11^th in the qualification round, and did not qualify for the finals since only the top 8 compete in the finals.⁹

International performance

Bindra won six medals at various international meets in 2001. In the 10 m Air rifle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Manchester, he won Gold in the Pairs event and Silver in the individual event.

At the 2004 Olympic Games, he scored 597 in the qualification round and was placed third behind Qinan Zhu (599 - Olympic Record) and Li Jie (598). In the finals, Abhinav finished with 97.6 points, last in the field of eight and was the only player below 100 points. His sub-par finals dropped him from third to seventh.¹⁰

At the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, he won the Gold in the Pairs event and the Bronze in the Singles event. Abhinav missed the 2006 Asian Games at Doha because of a back injuiry.

2008 Beijing Olympics

Bindra booked his place in the 2008 Olympics by winning the gold medal at the 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships with a score of 699.1¹¹

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra ¹² for the Men's 10m Air Rifle final after shooting a total of 700.5. He scored 596 (fourth) in the qualifying round and out-scored all other shooters in the finals with a round of 105.5. In the finals, he started with a shot of 10.7, and none of his shots were below 10.0.¹³ Bindra was tied with Henri Häkkinen heading into his final shot. Bindra scored his highest of the finals — 10.8 while Hakkinen came with 9.7 to settle for the Bronze medal.¹⁴It has been alleged that Abhinav Bindra's gun was tampered with between the qualifying and final round of the event, though no official complaint was filed by the Indian contingent. ¹⁵

This was India's first individual gold medal at the Olympics, and the first gold in 28 years, since the Men's Field Hockey team won the gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.² Bindra was rewarded by various Indian state governments and private organizations for his achievement.

Awards and recognitions

Abhinav Bindra

• 2000 - Arjuna award.¹⁶
• 2001 - Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (India's highest sports award).¹⁷

Awards for 2008 Olympics Gold medal

• Rs. 1.5 crore (US$ 314,860.5) by L. N. Mittal, Arcelor Mittal
• Rs. 50 lakh (US$ 116,000) cash prize by Central Govt ¹⁸
• Rs. 25 lakh (US$ 58,000) cash prize by the State Government of Haryana.¹⁹
• Rs. 25 lakh cash prize by the Board of Control for Cricket in India²⁰
• Rs. 15 lakh (US$ 34,800) cash prize by Steel Ministry of India²¹
• Rs. 11 lakh (US$ 25,500) cash prize by the State Government of Bihar. The Patna Indoor Stadium will be renamed after Abhinav Bindra.¹⁹
• Rs. 10 lakh prize by the State Government of Karnataka²²

• Rs. 10 lakh cash prize by S. Amolak Singh Gakhal, Chairman Golds Gym²³
• Rs. 10 lakh cash prize by Chief Minister of Maharashtra state²⁴
• Rs. 5 lakh (US$ 11,600) cash prize by State Government of Orissa²⁵
• Rs. 5 lakh cash prize by M. Karunanidhi, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu²⁶
• Rs. 1 lakh (US$ 2,300) cash prize by the State Government of Chhattisgarh¹⁹
• Rs. 1 lakh cash prize by the State Government of Madhya Pradesh
• A free lifetime railway pass by the Railway Ministry of India²⁷
• A Gold medal by the State Government of Kerala.²⁸

²⁹−Rs. 15 lakh cash award by Pune Municipal Corporation

Business career

Abhinav Bindra holds a B.B.A. (Bachelor of Business Administration) from the University of Colorado, US.³⁰

Bindra is the CEO of Abhinav Futuristics - the sole distributor of Walther arms in India. Abhinav has sponsorship tie-ups with Samsung and Sahara Group.⁵

See also

• India at the 2008 Summer Olympics
• Shooting at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 10 metre air rifle

References

External links

The external links in this article may not follow Wikipedia's content policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links.

• Abhinav Bindra's Profile & Records
• Official profile of Abhinav Bindra at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
• Abhinav Futuristics, CEO Abhinav Bindra
• Video of awards ceremony - 2008 Beijing Olympics 10m mens air rifle