New Delhi: India rejoiced with its best successful campaign as the Indian contingent comprising 57 athletes returned with three medals from the Beijing Olympics 2008. Abhinav Bindra’s gold medal in 10m air rifle sent the country into ecstasy. No individual athlete had ever won a gold at the Olympics before that point.
Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar’s bronze medals in boxing and wrestling helped India to pick three medals and better the two-medals tally at Paris Olympics in 1900 and Helsinki Olympics in 1952. India never won gold medal in an individual event, though the Indian men’s hockey team accounted for eight gold medals from 1928 to 1980.
This was a time when Olympics sport was in tatters with lack in infrastructure, feeble domestic competitions, and lack of encouragement for athletes to participate. All three medalists turned out to be icons of their respective sports in the Asian country.
Abhinav Bindra’s one best effort
Abhinav Bindra was a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist but wasn’t considered favourite to make his mark at the quadrennial showpiece. The then 25-year-0ld consistently targeted at 10 and concluded his biggest game with a 10.8 score to accumulate his tally at 700.5 and defeated 2004 Athens Olympics champion Zhu Qinan (699.7) of China. Henri Hakkinen of Finland finished with a bronze medal with a score of 699.4.
Sushil Kumar’s rise
Sushil Kumar made the best in the repechage rounds of men’s freestyle 66kg category by dominating first and second round which paved his way to stand a chance to win a bronze medal. He defeated Kazakhstan’s Leonid Spiridonov 3-1 to win bronze medal for India. It was a massive rise for the man from Delhi after finishing at 14th spot at the Athens Olympics.
Vijender Singh bags first boxing medal
The 2006 Commonwealth Games silver medalist started his campaign in middleweight category on a good note, registering comprehensive wins of 13-2 and 13-3 in his first two rounds. After outsmarting Ecuador’s Carlos Gongora in the quarterfinal by a margin of 9-4, Vijender Singh confirmed India’s first medal in boxing. He lost to Cuban boxer Emilio Correa in the semi-final. He became a new boxing sensation following his bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics.
Abhinav Bindra’s gold medal in 10m air rifle sent the country into ecstasy. No individual athlete had ever won a gold at the Olympics before that point. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
