Bindra’s personal experience
Bindra only started shooting training in 1997 and began participating in competitions in the same year. In 2006, he won the men's 10-meter air rifle championship at the World Championships. Won the Olympic gold medal in the men's 10-meter air rifle in 2008.
Bindra lives in Chandigarh. His father A.S. Bindra is a businessman. His parents generously donated money to ensure that their son could get the best training and the best equipment throughout his shooting career.
When he participated in the 2000 Olympics, he was only 17 years old. He was the youngest shooter in the competition and the youngest athlete to represent India in various competitions. He received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2001, the highest individual honor for male and female athletes. He is a true pro, training nine hours a day, including two hours of stretching and jogging.
Third place in the 10-meter air rifle in the 2001 World Cup Germany;
Third place in the 10-meter air rifle in the 2003 World Cup Germany and fourth place in the 10-meter air rifle in South Korea;
Seventh place in 10-meter air rifle at the 2004 Olympic Games;
10-meter air rifle champion at the 2006 World Championships;
10-meter air rifle at the 2007 World Cup in Thailand Seventh place in rifle and eighth place in finals;
2008 Beijing Olympic Games men's 10-meter air rifle gold medal.
"Goldfinger" shook the government and the opposition
The sound of Bindra's last shot may not have been heard by many people at the Beijing shooting range, but it shocked the eardrums of 1 billion Indians and continues to this day. The future will echo in the ears of Indians for a long time. At that time, our reporter was also watching the game on TV. The reporter found that the Indian national TV commentator who broadcast the game live said with a trembling voice: "This is a great moment, Bindra made history." The reporter then switched to India's Other TV news channels found that all news channels interrupted their original programs and inserted scenes of Bindra "making history". Until now, various TV media news channels in India are still broadcasting scenes of Bindra winning the championship from time to time, and the big words "India is proud of you" flash from time to time. It is estimated that this classic picture will stay in the Indian TV media forever.
In the first two days of the Beijing Olympics, Indian TV media reported very little on the Olympics. This was mainly because Indian athletes always brought disappointing news to people in the first two days of competition. They were either eliminated or Defeated. Bindra's victory seemed to give the Indian television media a shot of stimulant. All news channels continuously broadcast the scene of Bindra receiving the award. All reports said that Bindra was the pride of India. The bottom of the TV screen kept scrolling with text messages and phone calls from viewers regarding Bindra's victory. Many viewers said that August 11 was India's greatest day because it was the day India won its first individual Olympic gold medal. The Indian people So proud of Bindra.
Indian President Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent congratulatory messages to him within an hour of his victory, congratulating him on his outstanding performance and winning honors for India. Indian Sports Minister Gill also congratulated him and said that the whole of India is excited for Bindra, who has opened a new era of Indian sports. Kalmadi, Chairman of the Indian Olympic Committee, said excitedly: "Today we have witnessed history. This is the most exciting moment in the history of Indian sports."
Material rewards continue to flow
India The government and the public not only paid Bindra heroic praise without hesitation, but also sent Bindra a steady stream of generous material rewards. On the day Bindra won the championship, the government of his state, Punjab, offered him a reward of 10 million rupees (1 US dollar is equivalent to 43 rupees). Other state governments that had nothing to do with him also gave him 1 million to Reward of Rs 50 Lakhs. Some businesses and social groups also followed closely. For example, the Indian steel giant Mittal announced a reward of 15 million rupees for Bindra, the Indian Steel Corporation also awarded him a bonus of 500,000 rupees, and the Indian Cricket Board of Control also He was given a reward of Rs 25 lakh.
According to Bindra's father, on the day Bindra won the championship, he received more than 20 million rupees in prize money. He wants to reward his son with a five-star hotel worth 2 billion rupees, which is now under construction. The hotel is fully owned and operated by Bindra. All walks of life in India are doing their best to "award" Bindra. For example, Indian Railway Minister Yadav announced that Bindra is a distinguished guest of the Ministry of Railways and can travel free of charge in air-conditioned first-class train carriages for life. Some hotels said that no matter when Bindra stays, he can stay in the presidential suite for free. Some Indian media predict that in addition to various preferential treatment measures, Bindra may receive at least 200 million rupees in monetary rewards from all walks of life.
Father's full training
Bindra was born on September 28, 1982. He is a native of Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab, a large agricultural province in western India. His father is India's largest exporter of shooting products. merchant. Perhaps influenced by his father's work, or perhaps because he has a talent for shooting, Bindra showed his interest in shooting and his impressive shooting skills at an early age.
One day when he was 7 years old, Bindra put an empty water bottle on the servant's head. Then he took a few steps back. By the time his parents realized what he was going to do, he had already pulled the trigger of the toy air gun, making their parents gasp. To his surprise, the bottle was shot and fell, leaving the servant unharmed.
At the age of 15, Bindra's shooting skills were already well-known in his hometown. In order to improve him to a higher level, his father paid a lot of money to hire a coach for him and began professional training. His father also built a private shooting range for him. The shooting range is very luxurious. It not only has central air conditioning, but also has 7 sets of guns, multiple sets of shooting uniforms and inexhaustible bullets. Moreover, all 8 target positions The transport system is all computer controlled. Some professionals say that this private shooting range is at the same level as the world's first-class shooting ranges and is far more advanced than India's national shooting range.
A well-off family and his father's full training are certainly important factors in Bindra's success today, but his own unremitting efforts are the main reason for changing the history of Indian sports. He trains seven hours a day, often sweating profusely, and has to stretch and jog for another two hours. In 2000, he represented India at the Sydney Olympics. At that time, he was the youngest athlete in the Indian Olympic Corps. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, he broke the Olympic record in the men's 10-meter air rifle but did not win an Olympic medal.
After returning from the Athens Olympics, Bindra actively prepared for the Beijing Olympics. At the 2006 World Shooting Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, Bindra won the men's 10-meter air rifle event and thus qualified for the Beijing Olympics. Due to injuries, he missed the Doha Asian Games that year. For the past year, he has stayed away from the public eye and conducted closed training. According to his coach, Bindra has only done one thing in the past year, and that is to train hard. He has only one goal, and that is to win the Beijing Olympics. Every nerve of his is focused on this goal. Every breath you take is for this purpose. Bindra's father said Bindra was a silent killer who wanted to show his strength at the Beijing Olympics.
Indian sports changed because of him
India sent a delegation to the Olympics for the first time in 1920. Since then, there has been an Indian delegation in every Summer Olympics. By the end of the Athens Olympics, India had won a total of 15 medals at the Olympics, 11 of which were won by the men's hockey team. The Indian men's hockey team won 8 gold medals, 1 silver medal and 2 bronze medals. At the Athens Olympics, Indian shooter Rathore won the silver medal in the men's skeet event. At the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, an Indian male freestyle bantamweight athlete won a bronze medal. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Indian tennis player Paes won third place in the men's singles. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Indian weightlifter Kanam Maleshwari won third place in the women's 69kg category. The Indian men's hockey team lost its glory after winning the gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. It failed to win anything in subsequent Olympics, and this time it did not even get a ticket to the Beijing Olympics. The loss of qualification for the Olympic hockey event this time is not only the first time in the history of India that India has missed the Olympic hockey event, but also a huge blow to the Indian Olympic delegation's gold medal plan.
Although India has a large population and a vast territory, it has always been labeled a "weak country" in sports. There are three main reasons for this: First, the economic foundation is weak and it is difficult to bear the huge expenditure on sports. According to reports, India has been poor and weak for a long time, resulting in very little government investment in sports. Athletes lack decent training venues and schools do not pay attention to the cultivation of sports quality. Second, the weather is hot all year round and is not suitable for outdoor sports. Many areas in India have high temperatures all year round, and many outdoor sports cannot be carried out for a long time. The third is due to culture. Indian traditional culture values harmony, which is contrary to the spirit of competitive sports to show off. The most common exercise in India is yoga, which is mainly about sitting and meditation, with little intense exercise. Fourth, Indians believe that learning is the right path in life and that there is no future in sports. Therefore, most families do not encourage their children to engage in sports training, resulting in a lack of foundation for the development of sports in India.
Bindra's last gunshot at the Beijing shooting range ignited Indians' sports passion and inspired Indians to have unprecedented Olympic dreams and unprecedented imagination for sports competition. On the day Bindra won the championship, a store in his hometown of Chandigarh sold 65 air rifles. According to Ravi Ahujia, manager of Ahujia Firearms Company in the city, which is qualified to sell professional air rifles, years of inventory in several stores of the company have been sold out in the past few days, and many orders have also been received. The company sold 400 air rifles in the first seven months of this year and expects to sell 2,000 air rifles in the next four months. According to the "Times of India" report, the biggest headache for parents across India is that their children are tugging on their sleeves and asking them to buy an air rifle quickly so that they can practice shooting as soon as possible and strive to become a hero like Bindra.
Reports say that many children in India have begun to take a keen interest in shooting, and many parents have begun to encourage their children to practice shooting. The government of Punjab, where Bindra is located, has begun to repair dilapidated shooting facilities. The state government has also begun to build and upgrade shooting venues and provide financial support to shooting athletes.
"The Times of India" commented that shooting will soon become popular in India, and it is not difficult to foresee that India's shooting level will improve significantly.
Some analysts pointed out that Bindra's victory allowed Indians to truly taste the taste of Olympic gold medals for the first time, and thus also experience the joy of the Olympics. For the first time, people have begun to participate in the Olympics psychologically. I believe that with this universal psychological participation, India's sports industry will reach a new level, and India's Olympic gold medals will also be won one after another. Now, many Indians are starting to I have begun to dream of catching up with China in the Olympic gold medal list.