Abhinav Bindra’s journey to become the first and only Indian to win an individual Olympic Gold, and the first Indian to win a World Championship Gold in Air Rifle Shooting is an example of a single minded quest for perfection. His victory at Beijing was not just a personal one, it broke a sporting barrier that had haunted a nation for a Century. Born in Dehradun, he has won over a 150 individual medals in a career for India that lasted over twenty years. His last Olympics were in Rio in 2016 where he finished 4th. Recipient of the Arjuna Award, the youngest recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Mr. Bindra was also conferred with India’s 3rd highest civilian Award The Padma Bhushan in 2009. He was also conferred with a title of (Hony) Lt.Col. in the Territorial Army. For his exceptional services to the Sport, he was awarded with the Blue Cross in 2018 by the International Shooting Sport Federation, which is the ISSF’s highest honour in the World. Post his retirement from active sport, he founded the Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance Centres, which are state-of-the-art Performance and Medical Rehabilitation facilities. He also established the Abhinav Bindra Foundation which supports athletes from various sports with cutting edge Sports Science and guides them towards being the best they can be and supporting thousand of athletes. Mr. Bindra chaired the ISSF Athletes Committee for 8 years and is currently a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Athlete Commission.
