Abhinav Bindra bid adieu to Asian Games with two bronze medals in the 10m Air Rifle. We pick five medal-winning performances that made Bindra a champion.
BRONZE, 2001 MUNICH WC: The boy, who showed much promise by becoming the youngest Commonwealth Games participant at the age of 15 in 1998, took another three years to make a mark in the big league. An 18-year-old Abhinav Bindra captured the bronze in the 2001 Munch World Cup shooting championship while also setting a junior world record score of 597 out of 600 in the qualification round. It was his first major international medal and that was the trigger he needed to set sights on bigger targets.
GOLD, 2006 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP AT ZAGREB: After a poor performance in Athens Olympics, the 24-year-old had a lot to prove to the critics. Abhinav Bindra not only overcome the burden of expectations, but a troubling back pain to win the 10m air rifle gold at Zagreb, Croatia as a 24-year-old to become India's first world champion in shooting in the senior category.
GOLD IN BEIJING OLYMPICS: Undoubtedly his biggest achievement till date, Bindra won the 10m air rifle gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He not only became the first Indian athlete to win an individual event at the Olympics, he also became the first individual to hold Olympic and world title simultaneously. His achievement was all the more special considering India last won an Olympic gold way back at Moscow in 1980 and that too in a team event (hockey). He was deservingly awarded Padma Bhushan.
GOLD IN 2014 GLASGOW CWG: Leave it to Bindra to keep the Indian flag flying at the international competitions even in his last competitive year. He capped off his final Commonwealth Games with an individual gold, which had eluded him in the previous four attempts.
MEDALS IN 2014 ASIAD: All eyes were on Bindra on Tuesday. In his last Asian Games, the Chandigarh-based marksman came up with yet another display of class to clinch two bronze medals for India. It was for the first time that Bindra won an individual medal in the Asian Games.
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