Ace shooter Abhinav Bindra created history by clinching the first ever individual gold for India after winning the men's 10m air rifle event at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Bindra had been fourth after qualifying but had a brilliant final round and the Indian, the epitome of tranquillity, hit a near perfect 10.8 on his last shot to pull in front of Henri Hakkinen of Finland, who fell to bronze with a poor final shot.

"I can't describe how happy I am," the ever-calm Bindra told journalists. "It's the thrill of my life. That's about it. It's hard to describe. I just went for it. I knew I was lying in fourth. Thankfully it went my way and I just went for it."

India's sports greats shower their blessings and praises for the young achiever who made the nation proud.

At the age of 15, Abhinav Bindra was the youngest participant at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and two years later he was the youngest shooter at the 2000 Olympic Games. He won six gold medals at various international meets in 2001.

In the Air rifle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Manchester, he won Gold in the Pairs event and Silver in the individual event. At the 2004 Olympic Games, he broke the Olympic record but failed to win a medal. He is a recipient of the Arjuna award in 2001 and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for the year 2001-2002.

Abhinav Bindra isn't just an ace shooter but also possesses a good business acumen. Besides holding an MBA degree he is the CEO of Abhinav Futuristics, a PC games peripherals distributor based in Chandigarh.

Silent killer, as described by his father, he is the one who spotted his son's talent when Abhinav was 5 years old. "He kept a water balloon on our maid's head and began shooting, knowing little that a slight mistake could have proved fatal. But his aim was so perfect that I couldn't think about anything else but make him a pro," says Dr A S Bindra. Before heading towards Beijing, Abhinav had even taken a commando course to build up his physical endurance and a mental training session to calm the nerves.

As he stood at the Olympic podium smiling, his demeanor gave a glimpse of what the future holds - more medals for India.