‘We have a good momentum now going forward’ – Abhinav Bindra feels ‘athletes need to get back pretty quickly’ ahead of ‘tricky’ Olympics cycle

‘We have a good momentum now going forward’ – Abhinav Bindra feels ‘athletes need to get back pretty quickly’ ahead of ‘tricky’ Olympics cycle

Abhinav Bindra

India’s campaign at the Tokyo Olympics came to an end on the penultimate day of the sporting extravaganza in style. With Neeraj Chopra‘s historic gold medal in the men’s javelin throw, India registered its best-ever performance at the Olympic Games with seven medals.

Toppling its London Olympics tally of 6 medals, India scripted history at Tokyo with a gold, two silvers and four bronze medals to show for their efforts. While India expected the medal tally to breach the two-digit mark this time around, it was not to be the case. But the Indian athletes impressed one and all with their showing.

“We need to empower these people with knowledge,” Abhinav Bindra

Abhinav Bindra
Abhinav Bindra

Abhinav Bindra shares that it’s essential for athletes to capitalise on their momentum following Tokyo 2020 as they look to prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The postponement of the Tokyo Games due to the pandemic meant the upcoming Olympic cycle will be of three years. The ace shooter feels that it will be a tricky affair as athletes will be missing a year to rest and regroup.

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“It was a historic performance with the best-ever seven medals. There were moments of great triumph and heartbreaks, but that is what sport is all about. We have a good momentum now going forward,” Bindra said speaking at a webinar organised by ELMS Sports Foundation.

“I see the next Olympics cycle will be tricky, primarily because of the shorter cycle. Normally athletes get a year post Olympics that allows them to rest and recover, but this time around they need to get back pretty quickly.”

The 38-year-old also felt the country’s sporting system at the college level is not developed effectively enough and needs to be structured. Bindra further adds that it is time India brings in scientific methods to prepare the athletes for the big stage. With restructuring, our aim should be towards creating a high-performance environment at the grassroots level.

“We talk about top leaderships but I think we need to get more quality in the second-level of leadership. We need to empower these people with knowledge of how to set a high-performance environment. Incorporating science, technology, engineering, analytics and medicine to athletes’ training and development not just at elite level but basing it right at the grassroots level is important,” said the Beijing 2008 gold medallist.

Also Read | Tokyo Olympics 2020: A look at India’s top performers at the Summer Games