The first individual Olympic gold ever for India
Its qutie amazing that a country as populated as India could not produce a single individual Olypmic gold medal till the 11th of August 2008.
The Olympic record of India is dismal to say the least. The previous best performer was Lt. Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore who won a silver at Athens in 2004.
On August 11, 2008, Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal in the men’s 10m air rifle shooting event. In doing so, he won the first ever individual gold medal for post independence India, and the first medal in any event for India at the Beijing Games. A very proud moment for any country.
The system has to blamed for this - the India Olympic Association is underfunded and frankly does not do it’s job well. In addition to a lack on infrastructure the association is crippled with politics and frictional bureaucracy. Lack of interest in any sport other than cricket has made matters even worse. I really hope this inspiring story serves as a catalyst and propels the popularity of other sports in a country that badly need to do better.
Congratulations Abhinav - you have done India proud.
