CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

A Shot at History

autobiographical work by Abhinav Bindra

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ16959950 ↗
Source-derived summary

A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold is 2011 autobiography of Indian 2008 Summer Olympics Gold medalist Abhinav Bindra. He won the medal in the 10-metre air rifle category, which made him India's first ever individual gold medalist; this victory came after he received the seventh rank at the 2004 Athens Olympics. However, due to Bindra's inexperience in writing, he co-authored the book with sportswriter Rohit Brijnath, which took them two years to complete. After it was released on October 20, 2011, at nationwide stores by Harpercollins, Union Sports minister Ajay Maken formally released the book on October 27, 2011, at a function in New Delhi. The book's subsequent Bangalore release in November 2011 was done by Rahul Dravid and went on to receive good reviews.

Synopsis

In this book, Bindra tells that only hunger for success and inner desire helps anyone to achieve his or her dreams. He denies that only the best training, coaches can lead to anyone's success. In this book, he tells how various coaches helped him to become a professional shooter. Especially, he gives credit to his German coach Gabriele Bühlmann, who helped him to win a gold medal after finishing 7th in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens which he states as "the darkest hour in his career". He says that how he drew inspiration from shooters like Gagan Narang, Samaresh Jung, Jaspal Rana and Anjali Bhagwat.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “A Shot at History” as autobiographical work by Abhinav Bindra. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2011, 2008, 2004—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2011. The account is most persuasive where Shot, History and autobiographical can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as autobiographical work by Abhinav Bindra. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16959950. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2011, 2008 and 2004.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “A Shot at History”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow A Shot at History primary sources, A Shot at History archive and Shot research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “A Shot at History”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “A Shot at History” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.