Happy Birthday Abhinav Bindra: India's Olympic champion turns 36

On August 11, 2008 in Beijing, Abhinav Bindra did what no Indian individual athlete has done till then. He won the 10m Air Rifle event to become India's first individual Olympic gold medallist. He was just 25 then.

As he celebrates his 36th birthday, Bindra still remains the only individual Olympic gold medallist from India. However, Bindra is working very hard to change that.

Now retired from sports, Bindra is working to produce the next Olympic champion from India. He has launched the Abhinav Bindra Shooting Development Programme through which he provides support to India's up and coming talented shooters. 

He is also part of the International Olympic Committee's prestigious Athletes' Commission.

In a bid to inspire the youth to aim for gold in the upcoming Asian Games and 2020 Olympics, Bindra has released a video to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his historic gold-winning performance.

"You made me who I am. Now you inspire a billion others. I am cheering for the sportsmen and women of India to get our next gold for India," he said in the video.

Great Career

Abhinav was born in Dehradun in the year 1982. At the age of 14, Bindra participated in the 1998 Commonwealth Games, making him the youngest participant at the games. 

He won the bronze medal at the Munich World Cup in 2001. 

In the Air Rifle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Manchester, he won Gold in the Pairs event. Bindra also won Silver in the individual event.

He is the first and only Indian to have held both the World and Olympic titles at the same time, a feat he accomplished by capturing the gold medal in Beijing, after having won the gold at the 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships. Bindra also won the Gold Medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

In 2000, he was honoured with the Arjuna Award and the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 2001.

Man of Focus

Abhinav was well known for his great focus and hard work during his playing days. But winning is not the most important thing for him. 

When asked what he thinks of the Olympic medal he won in 2008, Bindra told TimesofIndia.com, "(If it was up to me) I would put the medal in a kitchen cabinet or something like that. I am not particularly sentimental or emotional about the actual piece of metal. What I really am emotional and close to is the whole journey of 22 years, striving to win a gold medal. Looking back it's not that piece of metal which is gratifying to me or which gives me a sense of pride, but my journey which gives me a sense of pride." 

Abhinav's life will be soon on silver screen with a biopic starring Harshvardhan Kapoor. The film tracks Abhinav Bindra's journey from a 15-year-old to 35-year-old.