19. Many Congrets to Abhinav Bindra

First Gold medal after 1980 and first individual gold medal .

Beijing, August 11:: World champion Abhinav Bindra clinched India's first ever individual gold medal at the Olympics, winning 10m air rifle event at the Beijing Games on Monday.

The 25-year-old, who qualified fourth for the event, shot an overall score of (596+140.5) 700.5 in a thrilling finale which went right down to the last shot.

Bindra's historic feat makes him India's first-ever individual gold medallist, bettering the silver medal feat of double trap shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in Athens 2004.

"He is the best shooter in the world and I think his is a morale boosting feat for everyone in the contingent," a jubilant Indian Olympic Association President Suresh Kalmadi said after Bindra's win.

"We are all very happy. He is a very hardworking athlete. The entire shooting contingent is celebrating. We are very proud of him and it is just the beginning," national coach Sunny Thomas said.

"Abhinav is a very calm and composed guy and doesn't get very excited," Thomas added.

Bindra, a Khel Ratna awardee, had earlier won the gold medal in 2002 Commonwealth Games in the pairs event and silver in the individual event.

Earlier, Gagan Narang had failed to qualify for the finals of the same event after falling short in the count-back.

The silver in the event went to Chinese Zhu Qinan (699.7) while Finland's Henri Hakkinen (699.4) had to be content with a bronze.

Olympic shooting men's 10m air rifle overall result in Beijing:

1. Abhinav Bindra (India): 700.5 points

2. Zhu Qinan (China): 699.7

3. Henri Hakkinen (Finland): 699.4

4. Alin George Moldoveanu (Romania): 698.9

5. Konstantin Prikhodtchenko (Russia): 698.4 SO

6. Peter Sidi (Hungary): 698.4 SO

7. Stevan Pletikosic (Serbia): 697.7

8. Serguei Kruglov (Russia): 697.0


PROFILE

Abhinav Bindra (born September 28, 1983) is an Indian shooting sports person and CEO of Abhinav Futuristics, a PC games peripherals distributor based in Chandigarh. As a shooter, he specialises in the field of Air rifle. On August 11, 2008 he became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games and the first gold medal for India since 1980.

At the age of 15, Abhinav Bindra was the youngest participant at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and two years later he was the youngest shooter at the 2000 Olympic Games. He won six gold medals at various international meets in 2001. In the 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 broke the Olympic record but failed to win a medal. He is a recipient of the Arjuna award in 2001 and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for the year 2001-2002. Abhinav Bindra's potential talent was first spotted by Lt. Col. J.S. Dhillon. He was Bindra's first coach. Abhinav also holds an MBA (Masters in Business Administration).


Beijing Olympics Gold Medal
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra won the gold for the Men's 10m Air Rifle final after shooting a total of 700.5, thus becoming the first Indian individual gold medallist ever at the Olympics. He scored 596 (fourth) in the qualifying round and out-scored all other shooters in the finals with a round of 104.5.

This was India's first individual gold medal at the Olympics, and the first gold in 28 years, since the Men's Hockey team won the gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.