IOTY SPORTS WINNER
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IOTY: Abhinav Bindra CNN-IBN's Sportsman of the Year
Published on Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 00:44 in Sports section
Tags: Indian Of The Year Awards, IOTY , New Delhi
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New Delhi: It was a seminal moment in the history of Indian sport - the Indian tricolour being hoisted at the Olympic Arena. It was the first time ever that an Indian won a gold medal in an individual capacity.
August 11, 2008 was the culmination of a 12-year journey for Abhinav Bindra. Not only did he realise his childhood dream of winning the Olympic gold, Bindra shattered the myth that Indian sportspersons lacked the killer instinct to reach the pinnacle of sporting success.
"It's been an interesting journey and after I knew I wanted to be in the Olympics, I was in it and I was committed to it and went for it," said Bindra after he won the gold.
Abhinav's success gave the nation a new hero and that too from a sport that fought hard to register in the national mindspace. And the euphoria of that magical day in August still resonates.
It was a virtual one-way train as far as the jury was concerned for the award for Sportsperson of the year. The other contenders were strong too - MS Dhoni, Saina Nehwal, Vijender Kumar, Sushil Kumar, Jeev Milkha Singh and Vishwanathan Anand, but then gold is gold.
"We used to go to Olympics saying I hope I can come back with a Bronze and that used to be our ambition and as far as we could see. I think Abhinav Bindra has just transformed that for every Indian and given us hope," says billiards player Geet Sethi.
Bindra joins an elite list of sportspersons who have won this category in the past - Jeev Milkha Singh in 2006 and Vishwanathan Anand last year.
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