Indian legendary shooter Abhinav Bindra has been awarded with the highest honour of Olympic Order award by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). India's Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Mansukh Mandaviya made the announcement on social media.
"Congratulations to Abhinav Bindra on being awarded the Olympic Order for outstanding contributions to the Olympic Movement! His achievement fills us with pride and is truly well-deserved. His name alone has inspired generations of shooters and Olympians," Mandaviya wrote in a caption to the post.
The Olympic Order Award is the highest honour bestowed upon an individual by the IOC. An award ceremony will take place in Paris on August 10 at the 142nd IOC Session.
Abhinav Bindra - The Indian Shooting legend
Abhinav Bindra holds the prestigious honour of being the first individual Gold medallist from India at the Olympics. Bindra won the yellow metal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the men's 10-meter air rifle event.
Apart from the Olympic gold, Bindra has an illustrious medal cabinet with him. He won the 2006 World Championships gold medal in the 10m air rifle and Gold medals in 2002, 2006 and 2010 Commonwealth Games in pair. He won the individual Gold in the Commonwealth in the 2014 Games.
Bindra has won Silver and Bronze medals at the Asian Games too. He was part of the 10m air rifle team that clinched the Silver in the 2010 Asian Games and was part of the Bronze medal winning team of the Asian Games 2014. Bindra won an individual bronze in the 2014 Asian Games too.
What is the Olympic Order Award?
The Olympic Order was founded in 1975. It is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is specifically awarded for distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement. Traditionally, the IOC awards the Olympic Order upon the chief national organiser(s) at the closing ceremony of each respective Olympic Games.
The Olympic Order was founded almost 50 years ago in May 1975 by the International Olympic Committee. It replaced the Olympic Diploma of Merit. The Olympic Order originally had three grades - gold, silver and bronze. But it was changed nine years later.
At the 87th IOC Session in 1984 in Sarajevo (Yugoslavia), it was decided that there would be no distinction between the silver and the bronze order in the future. The gold order would continue to be awarded to heads of state and for exceptional circumstances.
