Former Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian athlete to be awarded the Olympic Order, in the gold category, by the International Olympic Committee, on Saturday.
The award, introduced in 1975 to recognize his work towards sport, will officially be handed over to Bindra at the IOC Session in Paris on August 10, towards the end of the 2024 Olympic Games that start in the French Capital on Friday.
Bindra, the 41-year-old sports shooter, had won the 2006 World Championship gold medal in the men’s 10m air rifle. Two years later, in Beijing, he became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics.
He narrowly missed out on winning a second Olympic medal when he finished fourth at the Rio Games in 2016.
There are three categories for the Olympic Order award, gold, silver and bronze.
Bindra will become only the second Indian to win the gold category award after it was first presented to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1983.
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