It is Day 3 of the Olympics and it is Abhinav Bindra's day. The 33-year-old is the first individual Olympics gold medallist for India, having won gold in 2008 in Beijing at the 10 metre air rifle. On Monday, he and compatriot Gagan Narang will step up in the same event again. The qualification is slated to be held at 5.30 pm Indian Standard Ttime with the finals scheduled for 8.30 pm.
But whatever happens on Monday, it is worthwhile to remember Bindra's achievements as he gets set to take part in his last Olympics. It was way back at the 2001 Munich World Cup where he set a new junior record and won silver at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
The 2004 Olympics were a bit of a disappointment for him, as he finished last in the final round. But he followed that up with some spectacular successes: a World Shooting Championships gold in 2006, the first Indian shooter to achieve that feat.
And then came the big one. At Beijing, Bindra finished fourth in qualifying and went through to the finals. And there he was unstoppable, reeling off high score after high score to win an unprecedented and historic gold.
Bindra couldn't repeat that feat at the next Olympics in 2012 where he was eliminated from the qualification round. Now he's back for one last roll of the dice. What a fairtytale farewell it would be, if he manages to win a medal again, one last time.
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