"It is not only an occasion for us to celebrate, but whole nation is feeling proud. It is a victory of the nation and not just Abhinav's victory," said Dr A S Bindra and Babli Bindra, the proud parents of Abhinav Bindra, reacting to their son's gold medal-winning feat at the Beijing Olympics on Monday.
Abhinav won India's first ever individual Olympic gold medal after a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the men's 10 metres air rifle event.
"We are feeling on top of the world; we cannot put our joy into words. He has done the nation proud and also his city Chandigarh," said the proud parents as they prepared to leave for the Golden Temple in Amritsar to give thanks.
Dr Bindra said one can say "Singh is really King today" and gave "full credit" to his son, who, he revealed, overcame a back problem to achieve the rare feat in Indian sport.
"Abhinav has been training hard abroad for the past three months. He underwent tough physical and mental training. It has been a tale of sweat, extremely hard work; he kept himself going in pressure conditions and that has made Abhinav a real champion today. He fought back his back problem and we put him through a commando-type of training which has given a good result," he said, adding the achievement is great as he missed medal at the Athens Games.
Dr Bindra said a German doctor was dumbfounded on knowing how severe Abhinav's back injury way.
With tears of joy in her eyes, Abhinav's mother's said she had been praying to the Almighty all along and had a gut feeling that her son would pull it off.
"We are really feeling on top of the world at the moment. We are planning big celebrations once he comes back," she said.
"God has been really kind to us. I had sent a SMS to Abhinav in the morning wishing him good luck," added Babli Bindra.
Dr Bindra said he was sure that Abhinav would win the gold medal.
On Sunday, Abhinav's fans wrote good luck messages on a big white board, which had the champion's photograph in the background.
Bindra, who qualified fourth for the 10m air rifle event, shot an overall score of (596+140.5) 700.5 in a thrilling finale which went right down to the last shot.
His historic feat makes him India's first-ever individual gold medallist, bettering the silver medal feat of double trap shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in Athens 2004.
Abhinav's sister, Divya Kapur, said the family was waiting for the day when he would bring laurels to the nation.
"He has been working hard and has always remained focused on what he has been doing. His Olympic gold medal-winning achievement has not come easy as he has made a lot of sacrifice to reach the top and taste this victory," Divya, who lives in Delhi, said.
"It can't get better than this," she added.
