Harpal Singh Bedi
India’s only individual Olympic Gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, says that he was confident of emerging winner at the Beijing Olympics even before the competition started.
The shooter said he had that firm self -belief and he considered himself as a winner in his own eyes even before he had shot his first competition shot in Beijing,
The champion shooter talked about that defining moment in the history of Indian sports, in a web series titled “The Finish Line” conceptualized and produced by Baseline Ventures presented by Induslnd Bank and powered by Muse Wearables
However, it was not all that easy, admitted Bindra as he relived those moments which led to his winning the title and made him first the only Indian so far to have won the Individual Olympic Yellow medal.
Going down memory lane the versatile shooter talked about the panic which gripped him just before the final “Just 5 minutes before the big final, I realized that the sight of my gun had been altered just a little bit. There was complete panic that was running through my head, but funnily enough, going into Beijing I had also trained for it.
“I was frozen for a moment though and had no clue what to do but giving up was not an option. I decided that I have to fight, hence I got up and tried to get my sights working in order. From there on I shot the best 10 shot of my life that eventually got me the medal”.
When quizzed about those moments of panic, the former shooter said, “Just 5 minutes before the big final, I realized that the sight of my gun had been altered just a little bit. There was complete panic that was running through my head, but funnily enough, going into Beijing I had also trained for it.”
“I was frozen for a moment though and had no clue what to do but giving up was not an option. I decided that I have to fight, hence I got up and tried to get my sights working in order. From there on I shot the best 10 shot of my life that eventually got me the medal”
Bindra disclosed that it was one of the most surreal feelings of his life. “Well at that time it was very important for me to remain in the moment, I was not thinking ahead at all and just taking it one shot at a time.
‘There was definitely a storm brewing up but since I had accepted the storm, all the things that were happening surrounding it did not really matter to me. I was just trying to be immersed in my technique and I was actually immersed in it. ‘
That is the difference between really performing well and not performing well at the highest level,” said the Olympic champion.
“After hitting a shot of 10.8 which was the best shot of his round, Bindra was still confused if he had won the gold. He looked around to enquire if he actually did.
Asked about that moment in the show, he said “The greatest emotion I felt at that moment was the feeling of relief because, throughout my journey, I have been very obsessive with my goal. All my eggs were in one basket, certainly not the way I promote to young athletes. It was a huge amount of relief that, what I had set out to do in my life,
“I was able to achieve that. It was the greatest emotion that I had felt. I was very happy as this moment was the biggest thrill of my life, that thrill lasted for 2 seconds and that’s it.”