Abhinav Bindra, India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist, is not just satisfied with the Indian shooters but also believes there is a bigger picture that needs to be acknowledged from the country’s show at the Paris Games.
The suave Olympian — looking dapper in a blue suit — was at the Palais des congrès de Paris, the main press centre of the Games on Saturday. In the city as part of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) delegation, IOC athletes’ commission vice-chair Bindra got the prestigious Olympic Order.
Before that, he took time out for The Telegraph to share his insight on issues.
Always articulate, the Beijing Games 10m air rifle gold medallist was all praise for the shooters who got India three bronze medals. Manu Bhaker got two — one individual and another with Sarabjot Singh in the 10m air pistol mixed team. Swapnil Kusale bagged the other in the 50m rifle 3 positions.
“They did a fabulous job. Didn’t they?” Bindra said. “They won medals, some strong performances, some fourth-placed finishes. I think overall it’s a satisfying performance.
Now it’s time to consolidate on these and start working for the future.”
Indian shooters had fired a blank in Rio and Tokyo but in idyllic Chateauroux, it was a different story.
With a little bit of luck, they could have got three more medals. Manu came agonisingly fourth in the 25m air pistol, as did Arjun Babuta in the men’s 10m air rifle. Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan settled for fourth place in the skeet mixed team.
Shooting is one of the few sports in India where the depth of talent is huge. “I have been saying this for a long time... We have so many good shooters. It’s wonderful to see that we are not reliant on just one name,” the 41-year-old Olympian said.
Bindra walked into the collective conscience after his gold medal-winning feat in 2008. Singlehandedly he made shooting popular and most present-day shooters took to the game because of Bindra’s success in Beijing.
The National Rifle Association of India changed the selection criteria for shooting for the Paris Games and for many that was a game changer.
“It worked this time you can say that. It was a fair decision to make, given the depth of talent we have. If there was no depth, you could have asked if this was a correct decision. You have to credit the federation for the success. There is a lot of work being done at the junior level, and access to equipment has improved. So overall the scene is very bright.”
Overall, India failed to replicate its Tokyo performance. In Paris, India have won just six — one silver and five bronze — and it’s the contingent’s fourth-place finishes that rank the highest — six.
“There are two ways of looking at it. One you take the medals tally into consideration. Or look at the bigger picture. There have been some misses, but many of the athletes were in contention. That we never saw in the past, when only a few would be in the mix. But this time there were many. That’s a boost I would say. A plus and has to be acknowledged,” Bindra said.
