Abhinav India Bindra

Maybe Bindra has known all along what he8217;s done by taking gold in the 10 m air rifle. Maybe he needs time to get a measure of it. Maybe he just wants to move on. Maybe that is why his first casually overheard words were to his friend and teammate, Mansher Singh. Find me, he said, a way to go back home today.

His home, that is, in Chandigarh where seven guard dogs keep his privacy. Where, he said today, he has for the past ten years been punching holes in a black paper for a living.

That8217;s the loneliness of Bindra8217;s pursuit. And this is what he8217;s managed. No longer will India come to the Olympics without commanding the simple courtesy of expectations placed on them. No longer will a gold medal surprise us. Never again will we plead with the constellations to allow luck to go our way.

Because Bindra claimed success on merit. After the penultimate round he was tied with Henri Hakkinen of Finland, at 689.7. In the last round of shots, he pulled out a 10.8, the closest one gets to a perfect 10.9 to shoot a speck on that paper he8217;s been staring at for a decade. Hakkinen hit 9.7, and settled for bronze, with the defending champion, China8217;s Zhu Qinan, left with the silver and a disappointment so touchingly acute that he sniffled through the press conference later.

After qualifications, Bindra was placed fourth in the final eight. Gagan Narang was eliminated to ninth place on a back-count after tying for the last spot with four others, all of whom then made it through. He knew what Bindra8217;s feat was all about, shyly finding himself a better spot to observe the medal ceremony.

Character shows itself in moments of success and failure. Bindra8217;s met both without the exuberant gesture. Four years ago at Athens, he broke the Olympic record to qualify for the finals, to find himself shooting really well, and yet finally ending seventh. When he left his position and the next contestant came to position herself for the final, her coach found something wrong. She examined the floor and found it had been vibrating. The contestant took aim a few paces away, and won a medal.

Bindra never complained. He battled injury and disappointment. And today he remembered it like this: 8220;After Athens it was hard for me to take the plunge. But I decided to, I worked hard.8221; How did he do it, winning India8217;s first gold medal at a world championship along the way in 2006? 8220;There8217;s not much to say. You just have to be at it, be at it.8221; And then the revealing words: he shot better at Athens.

That is perhaps why he refused to be drawn into discussions on how India8217;s first individual gold would change his life. 8220;For me, life will go on,8221; he said. 8220;It8217;s alright. But I sincerely hope it will change the face of Olympic sport in India. That is not a priority in India.8221;

Then, the conflicting comment. Is he excited about going back home? 8220;Not really. I don8217;t like plane travel.8221; Maybe that8217;s why in an orgy of gifts and rewards, his country has given him a lifetime8217;s worth of free train travel.