Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Goldfinger Bindra makes history

Abhinav Bindra made history on Monday when he won India's first ever individual Olympic gold medal with a thrilling come-from-behind victory the men's 10 metres air rifle event in Beijing.

Bindra was fourth after qualifying but had a brilliant final round and even hit a near perfect 10.8 on his last visit to pull in front of Henri Hakkinen of Finland, who dropped to bronze with a poor final shot of 9.7.

That allowed China's Zhu Qinan, the defending Olympic champion and heavy favourite, to pass him on his final shot and win the silver medal.

India's last Olympic gold medal was from hockey (8th gold) at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Bindra's feat betters the silver medal effort of double trap shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore at the Athens Games in 2004.

No comments: