As the Olympics 2020 in Tokyo are in full swing, news channels, lunch-time discussions, social media, newspapers, everyone is only talking about what is going down with participants in Tokyo. Even though this time around I am soaking in quite a few learnings from various athletes around the world, be it Simone Biles for being bold and unapologetic to withdraw or from Tom Daley for breaking gender stereotypes, at heart I am still rooting for India to win a gold.

You see, that feeling of seeing your country win a gold at the Olympics is unparalleled and nothing short of exemplary. And it takes just that kind of unparalleled commitment and dedication to be the one to bring that gold home. 

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The kind that Abhinav Bindra showed when he won gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympics and became the only one to get India’s first-ever individual gold. Till Date.

Abhinav Bindra who started shooting as a little boy, fascinated by the sport, took part in the first Olympics at Sydney at the age of just 15 years old. Of course he didn’t win, but the experience changed his life. And from then, every step that he took only brought him closer to his destiny and dream which was to win gold at the Olympics.

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“Obsession is a child of ambition”, would say Abhinav Bindra as he did not leave one stone unturned in manifesting his victory. And perhaps it is that very obsession that made him what he is today - a legend.

Here is a list of 6 obsessively crazy things that Abhinav Bindra did to win gold:

1) Went To South Africa To Map His Brain

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Abhinav Bindra who appeared at the Olympics twice before Beijing, in Sydney and Athens was left shaken up after the defeat at 2004 Athens finals where he admitted to have shot 10 worst shots of his life. 

Having become obsessed with every minute detail of his body after he figured out it was the loose tile he was standing on that affected his performance, Bindra travelled all the way to South Africa to map his brain to reduce stress. 

2) Weighed His Pellets 

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Abhinav Bindra has never been the kind of person to leave anything to chance. He was sure of taking control of everything from his mind to his body and even his equipment which had to be just right. In order to make sure of it, Bindra would even weigh his pellets and use a magnifying glass to spot scratches on his pellets. If any of the pellets had a scratch or a bulge, he would discard it right away.

Abhinav also noticed how he performed better with Chinese pellets and had 10,000 of them delivered from a friend in Hong-kong to him for he liked to use only Chinese pellets for his shots.

3) Consumed Yak Milk

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While most of his other obsessions arose out of mathematical and/or scientific conclusion, this one seems to have come out of hear-say, but even then, Bindra was not the kind to compromise.

Having been told that Yak milk could be a focus-enhancer Abhinav Bindra imported and started consuming a lot of yak milk through major years of his career, on the off-chance it does help. 

4) Underwent Commando Training

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Abhinav Bindra’s coach Uwe Riesterer, just a couple of days before Bindra was supposed to appear for the Beijing Olympics, decided to take Abhinav for commando training. It wasn’t conventional for a shooter to train like a commando, but his coach found it the perfect way to teach Bindra how to manage stress without thinking. 

Abhinav Bindra recalled the time and shared, “I started climbing and halfway up decided I could not go on. But this was precisely the reason for attempting the task. I had to conquer fear, fear that could grip me during an Olympic final.”

5) Practiced Shooting In A Dark Room

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After his defeat at the Athens 2004 Olympics, Bindra became obsessed with his ambition to win and tried to calculate and conquer every possible scenario that could come up.

This included him often getting into his shooting position with his equipment and clothes in an entirely dark room and training there for added focus.

6) Rented A Marriage Hall To Recreate Beijing Shooting Hall

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Having realised that the shooting hall in Beijing would be much and unusually larger than where he had been practicing all along, Abhinav Bindra would often hire marriage halls in Chandigarh to train in.

He would set up a range in the hall to recreate the dynamics he would be shooting in at Beijing to perfect everything. In fact, Bindra would even take a shot from every angle during his mock finals which he would take wearing his gear.

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