The bullet that won the gold!

Trap Air Shooter Abhinav Bindra fired his way to victory in the 10-meter air rifle event on Monday, giving India her first gold medal in Beijing 2008 Olympics. Bindra, who qualified for the finals in third place, outscored 2004 Olympic champion, China's Zhu Qinan and Finland's Henri Hakkinen for the top spot.

Bindra's final score was 700.5 points, ahead of Zhu's 699.7 points and Hakkinen's 699.4 points. Zhu holds the Olympic record for the final score in the event, the 702.7 points, which he shot in Athens. Bindra's compatriot Gagan Narang did not perform well, coming ninth in the qualifier and failed to make the cut.
 
Bindra's triumph is no fluke. Born in 1983, he was the youngest Indian participant at the 2000 Olympic Games. Though he failed to win any medal then, he showed a lot of promise. In 2001, he won six gold medals at various international meets and in 2002, in the air rifle event at the Commonwealth Games, Manchester, he won the gold medal in the pairs event and silver in the individual event. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Bindra broke the Olympic record but failed to win any medal. Abhinav Bindra has also received the Arjuna award in 2001 and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for the year 2001-2002.

Bindra's victory gives India her first Olympic gold medal ever in an individual event and a gold medal in any Olympic event after 28 years. The last time India came close to winning an Olympic gold was in an indiviudal event was in 2004 when trap shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won silver. India's tennis ace, Leander Paes and weighlifter Karnam Malleswari won the bronze medals in 1996 and 2000 respectively. Until Bindra's triumph, India's only gold medals had come in the sport of field hockey, the last of them coming in 1980 in Moscow Olympics. Unfortunately, India failed to qualify for hockey in 2008 Olympics.

*** REWARDS ***

The Punjab government on Monday announced a cash reward of Rs.10 million (Rs.1 crore) for the shooter as per its sports policy after Bindra won India's first individual gold medal in Olympics history. Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh announced a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh for Bindra. The Madhya Pradesh government also announced a cash prize of Rs.500,000 for the shooter. The Indian Cricket Board, the game's richest body in the world, announced a reward of Rs 25 lakh for Bindra, whom it ad adopted as part of its efforts to encourage other sports in a cricket-mad country. Railway Minister Lalu Prasad announced a free lifetime pass for travel by AC first class for the shooter. Whoaa! Now, that's what I say, "Jeeto... Chappar Faad Ke"

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Jai Gurudev

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O.A.K. Tree