Abhinav Bindra in dialog (Credit: Twitter)
Bindra mentioned the funding in simply high degree athletes is not going to suffice.
Abhinav Bindra reckons that investing in simply elite athletes is not going to make India a sporting superpower and if the nation aspires to take its medals tally to double digits within the Olympics, extra folks have to enter the enjoying arenas and sport shouldn’t be checked out from the slim prism of excessive efficiency.
India’s high athletes have been receiving super monetary assist from the federal government and company homes, of late, and the outcomes have solely acquired higher as elite athletes get to coach overseas and so they now work with greatest assist workers.
Bindra mentioned the funding in simply high degree athletes is not going to suffice.
“If you want to get to 50 (Olympic medals), it is not just going to be pumping money into the elite (athletes). It is only going to be a very small percentage of your population that is going to get involved in sports, so you need more people to play,” Bindra mentioned in the course of the RCB Innovation Lab Leaders Meet right here.
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Bindra, the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medallist in 10m air rifle, added that India was at a juncture the place sport should develop into a mass motion now.
“The by-product of that hopefully will be that more people will be involved in sport. So I believe that the shift in perspective needs to happen and it needs to happen now.” The former world champion additionally mentioned that for India to develop into a sporting nation, a “sustainable” and “thriving ecosystem” must be created the place sport shouldn’t be judged from the slim lens of excessive efficiency.
“What I would really like to see India as a country is to start looking at sport more holistically and not singularly from the prism of high performance.
“It is a very narrow view and if you only look at it from a high-performance perspective, it will be very challenging to make that next leap from seven Olympic medals in Tokyo,” he mentioned.
India had its greatest-ever tally on the 2022 Tokyo Olympics, the place it returned dwelling with seven medals, together with a gold in javelin throw from Neeraj Chopra.
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Bindra, 41, added that extra that simply celebrating India’s success in main occasions, if the nation may rejoice sports activities, it may carry concerning the “real change” within the ecosystem.
“Giving more opportunities to young people to simply enjoy sport is that to me an important element that has to be developed for the whole Olympic project. The number two point is developing an economy for the future. The whole country needs to be involved in not just celebrating Indian success but also celebrating sports.
“If you have that larger goal in mind and you have this more holistic thought process in mind, I think you come up with an interesting project that will not just be limited to the two weeks of sports, but to how the Olympic Games can truly be the driver for real change,” he mentioned referring to India’s endeavour in direction of internet hosting 2036 Olympic Games.
On RCB Innovation Lab making a platform for a dialogue on sports activities, Bindra mentioned, “Event like these bring experts from all over the world to ideate, which in turn make one aware of the “newest global trends, and opportunities that exist”.
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – PTI)
