Last Updated: December 01, 2023, 13:13 IST
Ace shooter Abhinav Bindra speaks throughout a lecturer session at Niti Aayog constructing in New Delhi on Friday.PTI Photo
Abhinav Bindra reckons that investing in simply elite athletes won’t make India a sporting superpower and if the nation aspires to take its medals tally to double digits within the Olympics, extra folks want to enter the taking part in arenas and sport shouldn’t be checked out from the slender prism of excessive efficiency.
Abhinav Bindra reckons that investing in simply elite athletes won’t make India a sporting superpower and if the nation aspires to take its medals tally to double digits within the Olympics, extra folks want to enter the taking part in arenas and sport shouldn’t be checked out from the slender prism of excessive efficiency.
India’s high athletes have been receiving great monetary help from the federal government and company homes, of late, and the outcomes have solely received higher as elite athletes get to prepare overseas they usually now work with finest help workers.
Bindra mentioned the funding in simply high stage athletes won’t 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.
Bindra, the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medallist in 10m air rifle, added that India was at a juncture the place sport should change 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 change into a sporting nation, a “sustainable” and “thriving ecosystem” must be created the place sport will not be judged from the slender 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 finest-ever tally on the 2022 Tokyo Olympics, the place it returned residence with seven medals, together with a gold in javelin throw from Neeraj Chopra.
Bindra, 41, added that extra that simply celebrating India’s success in main occasions, if the nation might have a good time sports activities, it might carry in regards to 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 printed from a syndicated information company feed – PTI)
