Ace Indian Shooter won India its first medal in the London Olympics
2012 after he clinched the bronze medal in the men's 10 meter air rifle
event on 30 July 2012. While Abhinav Bindra, who had won a gold medal in
the Beijing Olympics 2008, failed to qualify for finals and finished
sixteenth.
Romania’s shooter Alin George Moldoveanu claimed the gold medal with a
total score of 702.1 while Italy's Niccolo Campriani clinched the
silver with a score of 701.5. Narang came third with a total score of
701.1.
It was third time when Gagan Narang was participating in Olympics. In
previous Athens and Beijing Olympic games he could not turn his
performance into medal. This was India’s third medal in shooting events
in the history of Olympics. Earlier Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore and
Abhinav Bondra had won India silver and Gold medal respectively in 2004
and 2008 olympic games. Narang’s bronze also marked India’s tenth
individual medal in the history of Olympic games.
Gagan Narang, who hails from Amritsar in Punjab was conferred with
the Padma Shree Award in 2010. Considering his tremendous contribution
to the field of sports, in year 2010, Gagan Narang was chosen for the
prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the highest sports award in
the country.
