India’s hero at the Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra, wants to help improve shooting in the country. He talks of his plans to Kamesh Srinivasan.
He has been drawing a lot of attention after his Olympic success. But Abhinav Bindra, independent India’s first individual gold medallist who generally avoids the public glare, is not complaining.
“It’s all right,” he says with a smile when asked about the hectic time he has had after returning from the Beijing Games.
Bindra has not yet decided on whether to continue with the sport and repeat what he has already achieved. “The challenge is to find the motivation,” he says.
True, once you are the World and Olympic champion — both at the same time in Bindra’s case — what else is there to prove?
“Retiring from a sport does not mean anything these days. I can retire today and return to the sport tomorrow,” he says with a mischievous smile. Being involved in sport is like an addiction. It is like repeating the 10s in shooting. Though Bindra says that he would let nature takes its course — at the moment he does not want to think about his future in the sport — it is likely that he has already started thinking about qualifying for the 2012 London Games.
The picture would become clear in November when the international body of shooting, ISSF, announces the qualifying events for the next Games. If the qualifiers begin in 2009, Bindra can be expected to jump into the fray.
Bindra, who celebrated his 26th birthday in style at his farmhouse in Chandigarh recently, has been doing his bit for the sport in the country. He is professor emeritus when it comes to guiding his fellow shooters who look up to him for the right advice. He has also helped in the writing of a book on rifle shooting. “I have given a lot of technical points. There are a lot of photos explaining the right technique,” he says. The book was originally written by Heinz Renkemeier, the husband of his coach Gaby Buehlmann.
“We are getting 2000 copies of the book from Dortmund, where it was printed. About 600 to 800 copies will be given free to the Indian shooters,” says Bindra.
Bindra is keen to improve the coaching standards in India. He has trained under the best of coaches. He has tested and has had a taste of different systems of coaching. He is very clear in his mind that the shooters who are moving out of the sport in the country have to be roped in as the coaching staff, for he strongly feels that they can make a rich contribution.
“We are going to have a coaches’ course, most probably in Chandigarh, for a select bunch of Indian shooters who aspire to become coaches. Gaby and her husband will run the course,” says Bindra.
He is of the view that there has to be three sets of coaches to address the needs of the shooters at different levels in the country.
Bindra is not the kind who is happy to take pot shots at the system in the country that struggles to produce a world-class athlete owing to the inherent flaws. Instead, he is prepared to contribute his mite for the success of other sportspersons.
“With the Commonwealth Games being hosted in 2010, there is no dearth of money in Indian sports, at least in some disciplines like shooting. What the shooters need, both individually and collectively, is a plan,” he says.
Bindra also talks of India being “poorly represented” at the Olympic museum in Lausanne. “I am donating my rifle, a jacket and a pair of shoes to the museum as they have asked for my contribution,” he says.
Bindra has a lot to contribute to Indian sports. It is the beginning of another long journey. As he says, the real joy is in the journey, not in reaching the destination!
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