NEW DELHI: For a man who could not even lift a rifle for almost a year let alone shoot with it, Abhinav Bindra's gold medal at the Beijing Olympics is more than just a historic feat -- it is a miraculous story of grit and determination.
The 25-year-old 10m air rifle world champion proved the naysayers wrong and lived upto the Olympic spirit of Citius, Altius, Fortius.
Indian shooters went to Beijing amid a lot of hype about their medal prospects but reality dawned as soon as they touched the Chinese capital.
One by one, celebrated names like Anjali Bhagwat, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, world title holder, and Mansher Singh misfired badly and failed to even qualify for the finals of their respective events.
It is against this background that one had to view Abhinav - one name that had hardly created a buzz before leaving for Beijing. With a spine injury hampering his preparations in the run up to the Games, he was at best given an outside chance.
However, the Khel Ratna and Arjuna awardee who is competing in his third successive Olympics, thrived on the relative anonymity and was happy to go about his job without too many expectations resting on his shoulders.
And if Abhinav's career track record is anything to go by, then he was always one of the best bets for an Olympic medal.
A gold medallist at the Manchester Commonwealth Games, Bindra became the first Indian to clinch an Olympic berth for Athens 2004 with a bronze medal at the Munich world Championships.
His Athens sojourn, however, was highly forgettable as faulty flooring in the finals deprived him of a slice of history at his second Olympic tryst.
However, an unfazed Bindra moved on and within two years of the Athens heartbreak he ensured a third Olympic appearance by winning the gold medal at the Zagreb World Championships, becoming the first Indian to do so.
But after the dream run, started a nightmare that threatened his career. A spine injury meant that even lifting a rifle was out of question and murmurs started as to whether the prodigious talent would ever be at his best.
However, Bindra returned to the shooting range after almost one year of a grueling rehab. Fitter and more determined, Bindra made sure that his third attempt at Olympic glory went perfectly by the script.
In a thriller of a contest that went right down to the last shot, Bindra beat off competition from a reigning Olympic champion en route to his historic feat which would be celebrated for a long time to come.
