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A Shot At History
Abhinav Bindra once shot 100 out of in practice six timesin a row and walked out of the range unhappy. He is aperfectionist, who once soled his shoes with rubber fromFerrari tyres because he thought it would help. He wouldwake up at 3 am. to practice at his range at home if an ideasuddenly struck him. It is from such an incredibleobsession that greatness arrives.But Abhinav Bindra's journey to become the first Indian to win an individual Olympic gold,and the first Indian to win a World Championship gold, is far more than that. It is a triumphborn of a tragedy. Having driven himself to become a great shooter, he was poised to wingold at the Athens Olympics in 2004. But defeated by a freak occurrence, he changed as ashooter: from a boy who loved shooting, he became an athlete bent on redemption,becoming a scientist who would try anything, including mapping his own brain, to win inBeijing.