Abhinav Bindra had to deal with an equipment malfunction as the champion rifle shooter during his fourth place finish in his last Olympics after being edged out in a shoot-off here today.
Just before the start of the 10m air rifle qualification at 9am local time, Bindra fell down along with his gun from the chair and as a result the ‘sight’ of his rifle broke.
“This is something a shooter would not want before a game. He had specially made it for the Olympics to suit the lighting. Even after such meticulous detailing he fell short. But a shooter is conditioned to shoot even if the roof is falling. We got over it and started with our game,” his coach Heinz Reinkemeier said.
At the Beijing 2008, there was another incident where his gun was tampered with, just before the final, but it did not matter to him as he clinched India’s first individual gold.
In his fifth successive and final Olympic appearance, Bindra had to settle for a fourth place after eventual silver medalist Serhiy Kulish of Ukraine edged the Indian out 10.5-10 in the shootoff at a packed Olympic Shooting Centre in Deodoro.