Rajiv Gandhi national university of law, Punjab

English Project
“A SHOT AT HISTORY” My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold

-By Abhinav Bindra

Submitted to- Dr. Navleen Multani

Submitted by- Komal Khichi

Roll no- 17200

Group no- 30
Contents
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 3
1.1 Early years ........................................................................................................................ 3
1.2 Achievements ................................................................................................................... 4
2. An assessment..................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 The parent factor .............................................................................................................. 6
2.2 Contribution to Indian sports............................................................................................ 7
3. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 10
3.1 Defeat and Despair in Athens......................................................................................... 10
3.2 Beijing mission possible................................................................................................. 11
4. Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 13
 1. Introduction
The great Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra was born on 28th September 1982 in Dehradun. He
was a gold medallist in world and Olympic champion in 10 meter air rifle shooting. By
winning gold in Beijing Olympic in 2008, he became the first Indian to win individual gold
medal at Olympic. It was again India’s first gold since 1980, when men’s hockey team won
the gold. He is the only individual to have both world and Olympic title at the same time. a
feat he accomplished by winning the Gold Medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing,
after having won the gold medal at the 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships. He also
won the Gold Medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.

1.1 Early years

Abhinav was born into a Punjabi family. He studied at The Doon School for two years and
then moved to St. Stephen's School, Chandigarh. He was a graduate from Stephen’s college,
Delhi. In the Kolkata Literary Meet, he said that in Doon school it was compulsory to be a
part of any sport so he choose shooting and , Later, he fell in love with the sport. He often
neglected his studies for sports and he said that he was often ignored by his classmates for his
dedication toward a sport. Bindra gives due credit to his success to his parents, He believes
that champions are not born but parents support helps them become champions. He also
stated that every dream requires a team and that team is his family. His mother made many
sacrifices for him from leaving her job for him to assisting him in his training day and night.
She wanted him follow his dream therefore she did not force him to pursue a law degree,

The role of his father in making him a champion can’t be ignored. He considered his father as
his role model. He backed his dream unflinchingly with every resource he possessed and
despite being confronted by problems his attention never wavered. He got formalities done
when it came to the international tournaments and gave him the freedom of choice to pursue
his dreams. His parents had installed an indoor shooting range at their home
in Patiala, Punjab. His mentor Dr. Amit Bhattacharjee was closely associated with him since
the beginning of his career. Dr. Bhattacharjee and Lt. Col. Dhillon were the first ones to spot
potential in him. Lt. Col. Dhillon was his first coach. He shared a very professional dynamic
with him. His coach was the driving force in the professional era. He was the one who guided
him for applying to the various competitions. He also accompanied him to many international
tournaments, despite his initial disbelief in Bindra’s abilities; he recognised Bindra’s talent
and agreed to train him. At the end of his 3 years stint with Bindra he himself guided him to
approach the coaches of international repute, because he believed that he had nothing left to
be taught. Abhinav was the youngest Indian participant at the Games. At the 2000 Olympics,
this 17-year-old boy achieved a score of 590, placing himself 11th in the qualification round,
but he did not qualify for the finals because only the top eight competed in the finals. He has
remarked the only talent in him is his practise, diligency and honesty. He said that he had a
dream of winning gold at district level, which was the burning desire from the first day of his
practise, rest everything was pure greed, determination and his love for the sport. He said that
his elation at winning gold at district level was far more than winning an Olympic gold.

1.2 Achievements
At the age of 15 bindra became the youngest person to participate in the 1998 commonwealth
games. He won bronze in the 2001 Munich world cup with a new junior record of 597/600.
He was also the youngest Indian participant of the Olympic games of the year 2000.

In the year 2000 he was awarded Arjuna award and in the year 2001 he was awarded with the
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.

In the year 2004 during the Athens Olympics Bindra did not win a medal even after
breaking the Olympic record. He scored 597 securing the third position after Qinaan Zhu and
Li Jie (598). In the finals he was last in the field of eight finishing with the 97, 6 points. He
was the only one to score points below 100. He was dropped from third to seventh in his sub-
par finals.

Though Athens Olympics did not go well for him he became the first Indian shooter to win
the World Championship gold in Zagreb on 24th of July in 2006. Again he won the Gold in
Paris event and the Bronze in the singles event at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth
Games, but due to the back injury he missed the 2006 Asian Games at Doha. After his
notable performances at the international level he faced a setback when his health started
getting serious. He was suffering from a critical back injury to not able to compete or even
lift a rifle for about a year. This also majorly affected his preparations for the Beijing Games,
But when he was back he came with all his determination and ready to take part in 2008
Olympics, He won a gold medal at the 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships with a
score of 699.1.

He won another gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the Men’s 10m Air rifle event scoring
700.5. He also scored satisfactory points in the qualifying round and out- performed all the
other shooters in the finals with a score of 104.5 in the finals. He was at par with Henri
Hakkinen but he scored highest of the finals winning the gold. This was the first India gold
individual medal at the Olympics in the 28 years; He was later awarded with various awards
by the Indian state governments and the private organisations. Coming to the 2010
Commonwealth Games which was held in New Delhi Abhinav Bindra honoured the game by
representing India’s contingent. He was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony and took an
oath on the behalf of all the participants from round the world. He along with Gagan Narang
set a record of 1193 by shooting in unison in 10m air rifle pair’s event for men to win the first
gold for India in the Commonwealth Game and a silver in the individual event. He also made
an unforgettable mark in the 12th Asian shooting championships where he won the Gold
medal in the Men’s 10 metre Air rifle event which was held in the Doha Qatar. In the 2012
Olympics 2012 though he lost the the qualification round securing a 16th position his
compatriot Gagan Narang made it to the finals and went on to win the bronze medal for India.

India again witnessed glory when Abhinav Bindra won Gold Medal in the Men’s 10m air
rifles single event in the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow.

At the 2016 Olympic Games at Rio de Jenario securing 4th position in the Men’s 10m Air
Rifle singles event he made India proud.

He has carried the sport of shooting from the realm of the rich to the masses. He has given
sporting hope and dignity a new meaning by ‘shooting’ his way to stardom and greatness at
mere 26.1A toast of the nation, Bindra is very “proud” to be an Indian. “We are an emerging
super power and a peace-loving community. Everybody likes us, our values, and our
development in all spheres of life”.2

1
http://inspireminds.in/englishblog/403/success-story-of-shooting-star-abhinav-bindra.html (last accessed on
21st October 2018)
2
http://inspireminds.in/englishblog/403/success-story-of-shooting-star-abhinav-bindra.html (last accessed on
21st October 2018)
 2. An assessment
The journey of Abinav goes like transforming from a 14-year-old shooting the rifle under the
mango tree to winning the gold medal at the Olympics; many people that have contributed to
Abhinav’s success, the amazing coaches and mentors hr had like Col.Dhillon, Amit, Heinz,
Gaby, Uwe and many other experts’ shows how mentors can groom a young boy to strive for
excellence and lead to victory. With incredible support from his parents, he managed to study
and also became the youngest Indian to participate in the Olympics in 2000.

2.1 The parent factor

His parents have a huge contribution towards his success. He started shooting at an early age
of thirteen because of the support of his father, when he was in his boarding father used to
write letter every second day “never mind if you don’t study but play sports,” was the one
common sentence in all the letters. Identifying, nurturing and training at the right age is all
that can bring a star out of an ordinary child. This tip has been perfectly followed and
implemented by Abhinav Bindra’s parents who gave India a champion of shooting. 3. With
the support of his parents he maintained a perfect balance between his studies and sports. In
countries like India activities like sports are not supported over studies but bindra’s parents
were against this tradition and supported his passion in every possible way they could. His
fathers build an in house shooting practise range at his home in Patiala, Punjab. Further
practise with a professional trainer was very important in order to achieve perfection so he
started his training with Lt. Col. Dhillon and Amit Bhattarjee who were his constant
supporters throughout his journey.

In his book he clearly gives the credit of his success to his parents who were his constant
supporters throughout his journey. He said “Ten times I would raise my gun to fire, ten times
I would put it down, and fighting to find the tranquil balance that shooters carve. I didn’t quit
and I need to thank somebody for that. My parents.”4 With this incredible support from his
parents he became one of the greatest shooters of the world.

As a young athlete knows nothing, and has no idea what he doesn’t know. He has an
unformed beauty, an unpolished talent. His ambition is raw, his dreams are big, but he cannot
get to greatness without information. In order to master his passion he thought of going to

3
https://www.yogems.com/yopedia/what-helped-abhinav-bindra-to-bring-first-world-championship-gold-for-
india/ (last accessed on 21st October 2018)
4
Abhinav Bindra, Rohit Brijnath, A SHOT AT HISTORY My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold, Harper Collins,
Delhi, (2013), pg no 13
German shooting school in Wiesbaden, where his mother accompanied him. This was the real
struggle that his mother did to make him big. They used to live in a hotel named Olympia
right above the shooting range. The days were difficult there because of food and loneliness
but she was always there for his support. She used to watch him shoot with a hope in eyes of
him becoming a great shooter one day. This is what we call unconditional love.

His parents did all what was necessary for him to pursue his passion. They supported him in
every way be it financially morally or emotionally. They were with him during his success
and failures, after the Beijing Olympics every person in India was there at the airport to
embrace him, congratulate him and wish him every individual wanted to be a part of his
success. He said that “four years ago, in 2008, carrying gold, a poor elephant stood outside
Delhi airport as I was swallowed by an army of people when i arrived home from Beijing,
now at Delhi airport in 2012 there was no one waiting for me in the vast halls. No garlands,
no questions, no placards, no interest. Nothing and nobody. Sport is uniquely lonely place for
the defeated. Yet I was not alone. Waiting for me was my family, always, win or lose, there is
my family”. 5
His family supported him immensely during the days of success as well as
failures and he also payed back for their sacrifices and support by making them proud though
his endless efforts and hard work which made him win that precious Olympic gold in 2008.

2.2 Contribution to Indian sports

Any sports person is not known by his name, by his family, by his coach he is always known
by his country. According to Abhinav shooting for India is always a pleasure but some people
make it pain. The irony in our country is officials do not support they hinder. The
penultimate chapter "Mr Indian Official: Thanks for Nothing", Abhinav sums up the state of
Indian sports particularly the manner in which managers and officials treat the players. In one
paragraph he summarizes it:6

"It was athletes often touch the feet of officials in India, I am a traditional Indian, but that
seems plain wrong. As if the athlete is accepting his future lies in official hands, instead of in
pure performance. As if the official believes he controls the athlete. It sets the wrong tone for

5
Abhinav Bindra, Rohit Brijnath, A SHOT AT HISTORY My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold, Harper Collins,
Delhi, (2013), pg no 229
6
http://sasitharan.blogspot.com/2012/05/shot-at-history-abhinav-bindra-rohit.html?m=1 (last accessed on 21
October 2018)
the relationship. This is supposed to be an equal relationship not a deferential one.
Eventually, only scores matter, not patronage."7

The condition of Indian sports is pathetic because of this uncaring attitude of these officials
who are there to help and support these budding sportsmen and this is one of the main
reasons of India’s poor performance in sports even after such huge population. Bindra also
thought of getting funds for training through national sports development funds but he was
completely disillusioned by the questions and attitude of the officials, “kya beta do you really
need this”?8 “What, you can’t use normal shoes to shoot”?9 These were the questions asked
by the officials. Anyway he was quite lucky because he received great help from his family
but things are not good for those athletes who cannot afford such equipments and training and
who have to depend on such officials.

Abhinav Bindra was the part of PM- appointed Olympic task force, in which he emphasised
on the mental condition of the sportsperson in his career of achievements.

These traits, wrote Bindra, are what India’s sporting culture needs to imbibe if the country
hopes to make a mark on the global stage consistently.

“As a growing sporting nation we must ensure our athletes achieve excellence across various
disciplines. We need to invest in our people, in our youth, in our athletes while focusing on
mental conditioning too. I remember how I fought epilepsy for two years before Rio
Olympics. It involved trembling hands and took immense mental and physical condition to
overcome the problem. It’s a long and tedious process, but it’s our only path to success.”10

Indian history is filled with the glories of shooting be it hunting or any other shooting
activity, India had great shooters from time immemorial, but for lot of us in the mid of 2000s,
shooting was rather unknown. It was only after Athens Olympics in 2004 when he broke the
shooting record few of us came to know about this and in 2008 Beijing Olympics after
winning the gold whole India knew about shooting as a sport with a whole new world of hope
, opportunity and excellence. Indian sport has been plagued by a lot of issues over the years

7
Abhinav Bindra, Rohit Brijnath, A SHOT AT HISTORY My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold, Harper Collins,
Delhi, (2013), pg no 199
8
Abhinav Bindra, Rohit Brijnath, A SHOT AT HISTORY My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold, Harper Collins,
Delhi, (2013), pg no 197
9
Abhinav Bindra, Rohit Brijnath, A SHOT AT HISTORY My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold, Harper Collins,
Delhi, (2013), pg no 198
10
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/mental-conditioning-critical-to-indias-
sporting-success-abhinav-bindra/articleshow/64628568.cms (last accessed on 21 October 2018)
and craves for heroes, who can lift it out of mediocrity by bringing success.11 He became a
hero an inspiration and an idol to millions. Bindra's main contribution lay in the fact that he
kindled public interest in shooting in India and has inspired many budding shooters to take
the sport.12

11
https://www.sportskeeda.com/shooting/an-open-letter-to-abhinav-bindra-thank-you-for-your-contribution-
to-indian-sport (last accessed on 21 October 2018)
12
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/abhinav-bindra-7018.php (last accessed on 21 October 2018)
 3. Conclusion
Bindra, a man of few words, hardworking and dedicated tries to showcase his life events and
the lessons he learnt from his success as well as failures. He shows how he overcame all the
obstacles to emerge as a shining star, he worked on his weakness and day by day became
stronger and confidant. The pizza pole challenge is one of the instances, where Bindra is
faced with a challenging task yet, pushes the limit to complete it and making his will even
stronger.13

3.1 Defeat and Despair in Athens

It was 10 days to go for the 2004 Athens Olympics when Bindra suffered a minor setback of
toothache. The medication became difficult for him since so many drugs figure in the anti
doping list. He wasn’t able to take any medicines, antibiotics or painkillers. His coach
persuaded him to back out from the Olympics, but this was not an option for Bindra, he
thought pain could be manageable. His tooth became a big distraction for him yet he tried his
best thinking there is lot to achieve. Despite his unbearable pain he performed excellently
during his training and practice sessions before Athens which boosted up his confidence.

But unfortunately, Bindra suffered a great defeat in the Athens Olympics in 2004. He was
completely shattered by this defeat and it devastated him. It was the worst failure of his life
that he felt that it kept starting him accusingly reminding him each time of his failure. He was
so deeply affected by it that he felt that his life do not matter anymore and he was just a
sporting irrelevance. He started doubting his existence, his practice of four years.

“Only sport can do this to you, strip you naked in an instant in public, step on your dreams,
make four years of practice incidental. In this sport can seem absent of grey: you triumph,
you fail. Black or White.”14

He was mystified by his own incompetence and inability to score good. Every person gave
one or the other reason for his failure. Some of them blamed his training skills, some thought
it was due to the lack of practice. People even held his parents, his sister accountable for
making their presence a source of distraction for him. He could not take these reasons
because he had a firm belief that nothing could have so easily distracted him. It was difficult
for him to believe that he had lost. He hadn’t been able to sleep until he got a call from a man

13
https://bookinshort.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/a-shot-at-history-abhinav-bindra/ (last accessed on 21
October 2018)
14
Abhinav Bindra, Rohit Brijnath, A SHOT AT HISTORY My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold, Harper Collins,
Delhi, (2013), pg no 4
who was trying to tell him the actual reason of his failure. He then remembered that it was an
unsteady floor which became a major cause of disturbance for him. The wooden floor was
not glued properly which formed a bubble and created an unsteady platform. Though he felt
frustrated and furious for all his four years of hard work had all gone in a vain due to the
moving floor, It also coursed a sense of relief to him because it was not his lack of skill, not
some world class choke which caused defeat. He did not utter a word about it to the media
because he felt it as an excuse for not winning the medal. It was very difficult for him to fight
his own struggles and gain strength again. But he did not loose any hope. In a time being he
again started working on his weaknesses and with a new hop started working on it. He then
made 2008 Beijing Olympics his new focus on which he worked with all his determination.

3.2 Beijing: mission possible

Before a few days of the Olympics 2008 there was a kind of confidence in him and this was
because of the leap of faith he has taken. But as the Olympics approached he faced a kind of
pressure, the pressure to win, the pressure of faith that everyone had on him. So to overcome
that pressure Uwe took him to complete the pizza pole challenge so as to gain confidence
before Beijing olympics2008. This was the perfect stress managed without thinking. When
he arrived at Beijing he had this new faith in him which he got through that pizza pole
challenge.

In the qualifying round he was standing next to the defending champion Zhu Qinan of china
with a strange fear and also a lot of hopes and confidence, his first shot was 10.9 and after
defeating Gagan Narang by one point he reached finals. Sports bring happiness for few and
sadness and depression for many. He was the 4th to qualify for finals out of eight.

On the day of finals, with his family praying for him, his father visited around ten
Gurudwaras , his mother sitting in the temple with fingers crossed and in deep stress and
anxiety, family is always a great support system and this is how Indian family values and
culture is shown in this book. So his first shot at the finals was 10.7 then continuous six shots
in the range of 10. He was placed third and after the seventh shot he was on the first place
.and his final shot was 10.8 and person at second position with 1 point behind him shot 9.7
and this was his clear win, he could not see the score board and asked Gaby
“Did I win”? She replied “yes. Gold”. That moment in Beijing relief flooded his brain. It was
the first emotion that released as the four years of investment have been validated. The whole
of the country was celebrating his victory, it was not his victory it was the victory the whole
nation. Bindra got a lot of love and affection from the whole country .This was the first gold
after the year 1980. He won India‘s first individual Olympic gold with the highest score ever
in the Olympic final. He has served India in the best possible ways and thus, he was awarded
with many prizes and honours. Bindra dedicated his success to his parents, his coaches, and
his own perseverance that led him to the top. In order to achieve ones goal one must
committed and true to ones goal and a lot of hard work, and then your goal is with you. His
indefatigable spirit and his ability to confront challenges has ranked him among the top
shooters of the world.

There were many difficult times that he faced and in spite of these difficulties he came out
glorious. Many people claim that he won because he was financially strong, this can be a step
to his success but not the only step. There were many difficulties and failures which he
overcome in order to be known to this world. He also got a career destroying spinal injury
after the world championship in 2006, because of which he was even unable to lift the rifle.
But with the help of best professionals he changed his posture to overcome the injury.

Abhinav Bindra one of the greatest shooters of all times and a person who made India proud
with his immense efforts and dedication, is still working for India, a legend of rare calibre,
who contributed and will continue to contribute to the world of sports .
 4. Bibliography

Books

Abhinav Bindra, Rohit Brijnath, A SHOT AT HISTORY My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold, Harper
Collins, Delhi, (2013), pg no 13

Cites

https://bookinshort.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/a-shot-at-history-abhinav-bindra/ (last accessed

on 21 October 2018)

https://www.sportskeeda.com/shooting/an-open-letter-to-abhinav-bindra-thank-you-for-your-
contribution-to-indian-sport (last accessed on 21 October 2018)

https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/abhinav-bindra-7018.php (last accessed on 21 October

2018)

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/mental-conditioning-critical-to-
indias-sporting-success-abhinav-bindra/articleshow/64628568.cms (last accessed on 21 October
2018)