Bindra had time for a few other light-hearted ruminations as well: “The food at these athletes villages is in abundance — so much choice that you sometimes get there and spend a good amount of time being confused whether you are really hungry or not.”

Are these words from an athlete ridden with demands of the Olympic kind, you wonder. And yet, Bindra’s keep-the-pressure-away approach just happened to be the one that struck gold.

Life and Times

•Age: 25

•Born: Dehradun

•Residence: Chandigarh

•Event: 10m air rifle

Roll of honour

Gold: Beijing Olympics 2008

Zagreb World Chmapionship 2006

Commonwealth Games 2006 (team)

Commonwealth Games 2002 (team)

Silver: Commonwealth Games 2002

Bronze: Commonwealth Games 2006

Previous Olympics result

7th place, 2004 Athens Olympics

Awards: Arjuna in 2000

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2001

•Bindra began the sport at the age of 13 because he liked the idea of fame. He shoots for seven hours and jogs and stretches for two hours each day.

•As a five-year-old, he used to shoot water balloons placed on the housemaid’s head with a toy pistol. That’s how his talent was spotted, says his father

•Used to shoot empty beer bottles at home with his air rifle before his father decided his time would be spent better being coached professionally

•Qualified for the finals in Athens with a world record score but slipped to seventh place due to a technical problem

•Back injury put him out of action in 2006. Monday’s gold is the culmination of a remarkable comeback.