When Abhinav Bindra climbed a ‘pizza’ pole

Abhinav Bindra’s search for perfection pushed him to climb, as a simulation of sorts, a 40-foot high ‘pizza pole’ that saw him conquer his “fear” and go on to win a historic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Then 26, Bindra became the country’s first individual gold medallist at the quadrennial extravaganza. Days before he scripted history, Bindra tried to conquer fear that could “grip” him during an Olympic final, by attempting his hand at what the German special forces normally do.

In a book titled My Olympic Journey co-authored by journalists Digvijay Singh Deo and Amit Bose, Bindra said, “I had flown to Beijing from Munich. This was because a few days before leaving for the Olympics, I had decided to get out of my comfort zone and climb a pizza pole, also used by the German special forces. It is a 40-foot-high pole and becomes smaller as one nears the summit, with the platform at the peak the size of a pizza box.

“I started climbing and halfway up decided I could not go on. But this was precisely the reason for attempting the task. I had to conquer fear, fear that could grip me during an Olympic final. I was scared out of my wits even though I was hooked to safety wires. I pushed on and finally stood trembling at the top.”