CDS (II) 2023 General Knowledge · Question 113 of 120

Correct — C, 10 meter air rifle, Beijing. Abhinav Bindra won the men's 10 metre air rifle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He had qualified only fourth with 596 and then shot 104.5 in the final for an aggregate of 700.5, the last shot a 10.8 that took the title. It was the first individual Olympic gold medal India had ever won — India's earlier golds were all won by the men's hockey team — and for sixteen years it stood alone until Neeraj Chopra's javelin gold at the Tokyo Games of 2020, held in 2021. The item is decided by two independent facts, and getting either one right halves the field: the event is the rifle, not the pistol, and the Games are Beijing, not London.

• (a)10 meter air pistol, London — Wrong on both counts. Bindra was a rifle shooter, not a pistol shooter, and his gold came at Beijing in 2008, not at London in 2012.
• (b)10 meter air rifle, London — Right event, wrong Games. London 2012 brought India two shooting medals, but neither was gold and neither was Bindra's.
• (d)10 meter air pistol, Beijing — Right Games, wrong event. Air pistol and air rifle are separate disciplines with separate finals; Bindra's was the rifle.

The 10 metre air rifle is one of the standard Olympic shooting events, fired standing at a target ten metres away with a compressed-air rifle. In Bindra's era the format put a qualification round of sixty shots first, with the top eight going through to a ten-shot final in which scores were carried forward and each shot was scored to a tenth of a point — which is why a competitor who qualified fourth could still win. The rules have since changed to a final that starts from zero and eliminates shooters as it goes.

This is a two-variable item, and the examiner has crossed the variables deliberately: two options offer the pistol and two the rifle, two offer London and two Beijing. That structure rewards partial knowledge, because either fact alone eliminates half the options. The strongest anchor is the year — 2008, the Beijing Games — because Bindra's gold is one of the most retold moments in Indian sport. The discipline is the second anchor: he was a rifle shooter throughout his career, and the pistol events belong to other Indian names. Note the wording of the record too: first individual Olympic gold, which leaves India's eight hockey golds untouched. Bindra has since received the International Shooting Sport Federation's Blue Cross in 2018 and the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Order in 2024.

• Abhinav Bindra won the men's 10 metre air rifle gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
• He qualified fourth with 596 and shot 104.5 in the final for a total of 700.5, finishing with a 10.8.
• It was India's first individual Olympic gold medal; the country's earlier golds were won by the men's hockey team.
• Neeraj Chopra's javelin gold at the Tokyo Games, held in 2021, is the only other individual Olympic gold India has won.
• Bindra received the ISSF Blue Cross in 2018 and the Olympic Order from the International Olympic Committee in 2024.

• Swapping air rifle for air pistol — they are different events with different champions.
• Placing the gold at London 2012 rather than Beijing 2008.
• Dropping the word 'individual' from the record and thinking it was India's first Olympic gold of any kind.

As an athlete-event-Games identification, sometimes crossed with a second variable so that partial knowledge still earns the mark.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Who won India's only individual Olympic gold medal other than Abhinav Bindra's?

  • (a)Sushil Kumar
  • (b)Neeraj Chopra
  • (c)P. V. Sindhu
  • (d)Bajrang Punia

  Answer(b) Neeraj Chopra — the javelin throw at the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Before Abhinav Bindra's 2008 gold, all of India's Olympic gold medals had been won in

  • (a)Wrestling
  • (b)Hockey
  • (c)Athletics
  • (d)Shooting

  Answer(b) Hockey — by the men's team, which is why Bindra's is described as India's first individual Olympic gold.