A sporting resume containing Olympic, world and Commonwealth Games gold medals isn’t quite complete without the addition of an Asian Games title, and this could be his last chance to win it.
Bindra became the first Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal with his victory in the 10-meter air rifle title at Beijing in 2008. It was India’s first Olympic gold medal since the field hockey team last won in 1980, and made him an instant sporting hero in the country of 1.2 billion.
He announced earlier this year that the recently completed Commonwealth Games in Glasgow would be his last. And he capped that competition with a gold medal. Bindra finished the last Asian Games with a silver medal in the team event, after missing the 2006 Asiad in Doha, Qatar due to injury. The 2014 edition starts next week in Incheon, South Korea.
A focused man who is known to neither get swayed by adulation nor disappointed by below-par performances, Bindra has been one of India’s top marksmen for about 15 years. He has experienced the highs of the Olympics, he made his debut at the Sydney 2000 Games at age 17, but also encountered tougher times, too.
‘There were times when my life was full of frustrations and nervousness and I even thought of giving up the sport many times. But the support of my parents, willpower and determination helped me to pull out from the heat of those moments,’ the 31-year-old Bindra said earlier this year.
He was upstaged by a compatriot at London 2012, when Gagan Narang won the bronze. Narang had also beaten Bindra for the individual gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
‘Life is full of ups and downs, so one should focus on hard work and enjoy the journey rather than the final outcome or the medal,’ he said, reflecting on the rigorous practice he’d done since the age of 13, adding: ‘It is a never-ending hunger for achieving more and more every time that makes you a winner.’
Bindra became the first Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal with his victory in the 10-meter air rifle title at Beijing in 2008. It was India’s first Olympic gold medal since the field hockey team last won in 1980, and made him an instant sporting hero in the country of 1.2 billion.
He announced earlier this year that the recently completed Commonwealth Games in Glasgow would be his last. And he capped that competition with a gold medal. Bindra finished the last Asian Games with a silver medal in the team event, after missing the 2006 Asiad in Doha, Qatar due to injury. The 2014 edition starts next week in Incheon, South Korea.
A focused man who is known to neither get swayed by adulation nor disappointed by below-par performances, Bindra has been one of India’s top marksmen for about 15 years. He has experienced the highs of the Olympics, he made his debut at the Sydney 2000 Games at age 17, but also encountered tougher times, too.
‘There were times when my life was full of frustrations and nervousness and I even thought of giving up the sport many times. But the support of my parents, willpower and determination helped me to pull out from the heat of those moments,’ the 31-year-old Bindra said earlier this year.
He was upstaged by a compatriot at London 2012, when Gagan Narang won the bronze. Narang had also beaten Bindra for the individual gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
‘Life is full of ups and downs, so one should focus on hard work and enjoy the journey rather than the final outcome or the medal,’ he said, reflecting on the rigorous practice he’d done since the age of 13, adding: ‘It is a never-ending hunger for achieving more and more every time that makes you a winner.’