Abhinav Bindra, acclaimed shooter who won a gold medal for India in 2008 Olympics has announced his retirement from the sport. He had announced this before going for Rio Olympics 2016 and has officially put down his shooting gun in September 2016. To the sadness of his fans, we would not be able to see his bullets pierce the ambiance of Olympics’ shooting arena any more.
The talented boy from Chandigarh is the winner of first and the only Indian gold medal of 2008 Olympics. Honoured with nation’s prestige of Padama Bhushan, Arjuna and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, Abhinav bade farewell to shooting in New Delhi at a felicitation function.
Abhinav Bindra Retires
Bindra kept the sportsmanship up his sleeve till the last game where he fought like a warrior in an attempt to win the bronze at recent Rio Olympics games. Giving a spectacular proof of his consistency, Bindra finally achieved the respected closure to the carrier he needed.
The Olympian addressed during the function “At Rio, I finished fourth in the men’s 10M Air Rifle event and couldn’t get a medal. I had given it all at the Rio shooting range. But my performance at Rio gave me a great closure: I gave it my best and couldn’t have done more. I have always believed in a process driven approach and that’s what I did in Rio. I have nothing more to deliver at the range as I hang up my boots.”
On his maiden voyage to reach the zenith of Olympics in 2000, he became the youngest Olympian in the Indian contingent. In 2004 Athens Olympics, he was one of the finalists and missed bronze by four positions. Beijing Olympics however saw this warrior turn conqueror as he won first gold medal for India in 2008 under the 10M Air Riffle category.
By pushing himself on, he was able to achieve the impossible while making the whole nation proud.
Keeping thumbs up, we believe that retirement is not the end of journey for the shooter. As for the great man, there’s so much to be taken home from the shooting range-persistence, hard work, experience and victory.
Retirement is a phase when you stop living at work and start working at living!
While for some, especial for politicians who are mostly out of the retirement catalogue, this might seem a pointless expression; others might take it very seriously. Bidding farewell to your career is not an easy task. Abhinav Bindra would keep on imparting training to students who want to learn shooting.
Image Credits: India.com
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