Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra has been chosen to be the flagbearer of the Indian contingent at the Olympic Games opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, scheduled for July 5, PTI reported. The 33-year-old from Uttarakhand was the first Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal, after he won the 10-metre air rifle event at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
"He is India's only singular gold medallist. He is also in the executive board of the International Shooting Sport Federation. We feel it's a just decision, a wise decision, and we whole-heartedly support it," said President of the National Rifle Association of India Raninder Singh.
Bindra will be competing at the Rio Olympics for the fifth successive time. He is one of India's goodwill ambassadors for the summer Olympics, along with Sachin Tendelkar, AR Rahman and Salman Khan.
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