Abhinav Bindra: “Shooting had all the Potential and Support it Needed. However Things Obviously went Wrong at the Tokyo Olympics”

Abhinav Bindra: “Shooting had all the Potential and Support it Needed. However Things Obviously went Wrong at the Tokyo Olympics”

Abhinav Bindra

India’s shooting campaign at the Tokyo Olympics has been anything but successful, after a disappointing performance saw them leave without even a single medal. While the country sent a strong contingent of 15 shooters, its largest ever, all medal hopes were bashed, as India remains without a medal in shooting since 2012.

Apart from Saurabh Chaudhary, no other shooters managed to make it to the finals either, with the likes of Manu Bhaker and Elavenil Valarivan failing to even make a mark despite being highly ranked in the world. India’s gold medallist and shooter Abhinav Bindra said that shooting had been a disappointing affair at the Tokyo Olympics.

While it had all the potential and support, things went wrong. The controversy surrounding the shooting team and the coaches recently has been a cause for concern. “I am sad to see the mudslinging happening. This is a time for calm introspection to get things back on track.”

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“No one can escape Olympic Pressure. One has to be prepared to endure it,” Abhinav Bindra

Abhinav Bindra

Talking about the problems that occurred in shooting at the Tokyo Olympics, Bindra said it is hard to pinpoint it to one problem. There have been several smaller things that have been going wrong, which has lead to the downfall of the team.

Since he was not involved in the pre preparation, he has not even seen them and their potential in action. “Most of them are from another generation than mine. So whatever I say may not be more than speculation. Possibly there was a case where it was assumed that there will be no pressure and the Olympics is just another event.”

Olympic pressure is something that everyone has to endure said Bindra. Everyone has to be prepared for it and to endure it. He also said that the Olympics were about adaptability, and overcoming any crisis that may occur, an area in which Indian shooters struggled.

“It did not seem that they were equipped with a Plan B. Unfortunately each of our athletes did have a crisis at some point and they could not come out of it.”

Also read: Tokyo Olympics: Which country won the most number of medals in athletics?