Beijing Olympics 2008

I want to give back to Indian sport: Bindra

Abhinav Bindra spoke about his gratitude towards the reaction he has evoked amongst his country men following his amazing feat of shooting gold at Beijing.

He said that, “I’m feeling a little numb right now. A bit overwhelmed. But I’m happy that I could experiment liberally during my competition due to the training I had put in over the last four years.”

“I would like this achievement to bring about the positive change in the management and mindset of Indian sports and I would really like to give back not only to air rifle but to the whole Indian sporting management so that we can make winning a habit,” he wished, before throwing open the session for Q&A.

“I was upset after the Athens and then I had this back injury. It took a lot of courage and determination for me to even reach Olympics. So it’s a bigger achievement for me than just winning a gold medal. The journey was more important than the destination.”

‘‘There is a huge difference between us and other countries in the way we prepare for international events. Every country has serious Olympic program in place. Unfortunately, we do not have it in India. We can make progress only if we have a program which can provide grass-root level training to athletes from all over the country.”

Tags: Abhinav Bindra, beijing olympics 2008, Olympic Gold