Abhinav Bindra is a well known Indian shooter. He is the first Indian to win an individual gold medal since the year 1980, when Indian had won the gold in hockey. He is the world and Olympic champion in the 10 meter air rifle event in the 2008 Olympic Games held in Beijing.

Life of Abhinav Bindra:
Abhinav Bindra was born on 28th September 1982 in Zirakpur, Mohali in Punjab. He was born in an affluent Punjabi Sikh family. Bindra did his initial formative Abhinav Bindraeducation in St. Stephen’s School in Chandigarh.
His parents had an indoor shooting range installed in their home in Patiala in Punjab. His mental coach was Amit Bhattacharjee who was closely associated with him since the initial years of his career.
Bhattacharjee and Lt. Col. Dhillon who was his first coach were the first ones to discover the potential in him and inspired him to carry on with this potential.
Abhinav Bindra was the youngest participant from India in the 2000 Olympic Games. In the 2000 Olympics, Bindra achieved a score of 590 which placed him in the qualification round.
However, he did not qualify for the finals since only the top eight competed in the finals. Abhinav Bindra’s coach has been five time Olympic shooter Gabriele Buhlmann from Basel in Switzerland.
The glorious Career:
When Bindra was 15 years of age, he was the youngest to participate in the 1998 Commonwealth games. His fame of honor came when he won a bronze medal in the 2001 Munich World Cup with a new junior world record.
He also won six gold medals in various international meets in the year 2001. In the air rifle event in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, he won the gold medal in Paris event. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, he however failed to win medal even though he broke the Olympic record.
On July 24th 2006, Bindra became the first Indian shooter to win a World Championship gold in Zagreb. In the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, he won the gold in the Paris event and the bronze in the singles event. Abhinav Bindra missed the 2006 Asian Games in Doha because of a back injury.
In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra won the gold for the Men’s 10m air rifle final after shooting a total of 700.5. This was India’s first individual gold medal in the Olympics and the first gold in 28 years.
When the 2010 Commonwealth games were held, Abhinav Bindra got the honor of being the Indian contingent’s flag bearer in the opening ceremony. He also won the gold medal in the Men’s 10m air rifle event in the 12th Asian Shooting Championships which was held in Doha Qatar.
Business career of Abhinav Bindra:
Abhinav Bindra holds a B.B.A. degree from the University of Colorado in US. He is the CEO of Abhinav Futuristics, the sole distributor of Walther arms in India and also has sponsorship tie ups with groups such as Samsung, BSNL and Sahara Group.
He is also the brand ambassador of state run Steel Authority of India Ltd and a member of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Sports Committee since the year 2010. So it is not only in the field of sports but also in the field of business that he has shown his flair.
Achievements of Bindra:
Arjuna Award in the year 2000
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in the year 2001.
Padma Bhushan in the year 2009.
He was also honored as the Honorary Lieutenant Colonel by the Indian Territorial Army. In the year 2008, Bindra was honored with NDTV Indian Sportsman of the year award as well as Madhya Pradesh Khel Ratna Award. He was also awarded with numerous cash prizes and recognitions by different state governments.