2004 Athens
How close was Abhinav Bindra to winning the medal 🏅
Welcome to Rubric's Newsletter
It's been a while!!
Shooting and Wrestling have been India's forte in the Olympics. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won the first-ever individual Silver Medal for India in Mens Double Trap Shooting at Athens in 2004. India could have won one more medal in the 10 m Air Rifle competition.
But god had other plans.
The Basic
Air Rifle Competition is a competition of 1/10 of a millimetre. A heavy breath or an early trigger can cost you a lot. You have to shoot your best 60 shots to reach the finals. Abhinav shot 597/600 and finished third in the qualifying round to get into the finals. (596 was the Olympic record before).
The Final
The final is a new start. It is ten shots to history. The final was in another hall (not unusual, more spectators for a better view). Abhinav's form was strong, and nerves were held under pressure. He shot a series of 9.4, 10.0, 10.0, 10.3, 9.8, 9.9, 8.8, 9.7, 9.6, and 10.1. In the finals, anything below 10.5 is not good.
From the third, we fell to seventh.
What happened?
Did he choke?
Everyone had a reason or theory for his defeat. The Indian team coach told media "Abhinav was simply lucky to reach the Finals". Lucky, seriously?
Ten days later
Abhinav got a message from Gaby (his coach) - 'Do you want to know what happened to you at Athens, Call me’. She explained to Abhinav that the floor in position three was unsteady. She reported to the technical committee and they discovered the wood wasn't glued tight and a bubble had formed. It meant the tile had a slight bounce.
Slight in shooting is fatal. Everyone who played from position three played terrible.
Woah!!
Imagine preparing day and night for four years and you found this.
God had some better plans for him in Beijing. 🥇
- Nishchal from team Rubric