2024-07-23 20:01:10
New Delhi: Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra will be awarded the ‘Olympic Order’ by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for his outstanding services to the Olympic movement. The award ceremony will be held during the 142nd IOC Session in Paris on August 10, a day before the closing of the Olympics. The IOC President wrote in a letter addressed to Bindra on July 20, ‘I am very happy to inform you that the IOC Executive Board has decided to confer you with the ‘Olympic Order’ for your outstanding services to the Olympic movement. The ‘Olympic Order’ is the highest award of the IOC, which is given for distinguished contribution to the Olympic movement. Nominations for this are proposed by the Olympic Order Committee and decided by the Executive Board. Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated Bindra on being awarded the ‘Olympic Order’.
He wrote on ‘X’, ‘Congratulations to Abhinav Bindra on being awarded the Olympic Order for his outstanding contribution to the Olympic movement.’ He said, ‘His achievement makes us proud and he truly deserves it. He has inspired generations of shooters and Olympians.’
Bindra, now 41, won the gold medal in the 10m air rifle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He is the first Indian player to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games. He was a member of the Athletes Committee of the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) from 2010 to 2020, of which he was its president since 2014. He has been a member of the IOC Athletes Commission since 2018.