I have nothing left to achieve: Abhinav Bindra

India’s only Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra tells DNA that building a team that wins us silverware consistently should be more important before we dream to host the Games

Can you relive the moment for us, please?
It’s still very fresh in my memory. You know, to win an Olympic gold was a dream. That moment still gives me goose-bumps…To be standing on the podium, and seeing the Indian flag being hoisted. But there was lot of hard work involved. It took me three Olympic Games and 16 years of hard work to achieve this feat. The fact that this was the first gold medal in an individual event for the country makes it even more special.

You’ve achieved almost everything your sport could offer. What keeps you going?
Honestly I don’t know if I can achieve anything more. Now I want to enjoy the sport, the experience of playing big events, and target more medals.

Have you noticed any changes post August 2008?
The biggest positive is in the attitude of our athletes. Earlier, they were content merely by participating in the Olympics. Now whenever I speak to them, each of them wants to win a gold. Nobody is even talking about silver or a bronze. They are aiming higher than ever before.

But not all of them are lucky in terms of support. So is it necessary to be from an affluent family to win gold?
Well, I have been fortunate in many ways and I was self sufficient. But to the credit of the government, funding for a lot of sports has increased. And, honestly, I believe that has happened because I won the gold. If I hadn’t won the gold, I don’t think the government would have been that liberal.

So how has our progress been?
We are a long way away in many aspects. We cannot be underlying the positives that have occurred since then. We are still a long way away from the day when we win many medals in the Olympics. Spending money alone doesn’t win you medals. How the money is spent, is what matters. Plus a lot of planning is required. If you spend millions and millions on one athlete, it’s surely not going to get results. To win medals at the Olympics you need to plan perfectly, back the talent and have the right support structures in place. Other nations are far ahead in these areas.

What concerns you the most right now?
Our grass-root structure is very poor. You need to give beginners the very best in terms of knowhow, technology and exposure. It’s only when that happens that they will have a strong foundation, a strong base to move on to the next level. At the moment there is support coming that is going directly to the elite athletes and does not filter down to the ones who need it the most. When that starts to happen, obviously, things won’t be rosy.

Is it the right idea to support only the elite?
You have to support them because they are the ones who are going to get medals for you right now. You have to plan for both and run it simultaneously. You cannot just have one basic grass-root plan and have no plan for the elite, or vice-versa. The demand and requirement of elite athletes are going to be quite different from the ones who are starting their career. You have to back the present to get the best and also you have to build your future at the same time. It has to be done simultaneously.

We complain a lot about the lack of infrastructure. Is that a genuine problem?
I feel infrastructure is the most trivial of problems. Building good stadiums may sound difficult but we are more than capable of pulling that off. If we hold CWG now, have world class stadia and do nothing for the next 10 years that doesn’t serve any purpose. The important thing is to get the right know-how, coaches and technology in sports science. These are all more difficult tasks than building a stadium.

Can India be a sports super power?
That’s a long way away for us. This is the start and I think that we should now target 2016 and 2020 Olympics and start working on that aspect immediately. It’s a learning process. You can’t just copy paste ideas that are implemented in other countries… Something which we do a lot. We need to take inspiration from other countries, design and fine tune it to the requirement of our own country. And that can only be done with experience.

Can we dream of hosting the Olympics?
If we want to do it, we can. But again, it’s a question of what is our priority. Is it a necessary to host the Games or to build a team that is capable of winning 15 medals at the Olympics given the size and nature of our country? For me, it’s the matter of building a team. Because once you build a strong team and win many medals at the Olympics only then it makes sense to bring home the Olympics.

Realistically, how much of the above is possible? Looking at the conditions right now, what is the logical way forward?
Well I’ve said it a million times before and I will say it again. Indian sports need professionals with adequate expertise. I think the decisions regarding the athletes need to be taken by people who have adequate world class expertise. People who haven’t stepped on a sports field will not be able to take the right decision. Right now it is all a trial and error method that we are following. It’s like this: We win one day, someday we don’t. When we don’t win over a period, they say ‘oh nothing’s coming so lets stop the funding!’ That’s not how it should happen. We shouldn’t get disappointed so easily.

Will we have to wait another 100 years for an individual gold?
No, I don’t think so. We have more talent, we have athletes with more belief and more passion and I am sure we will have many more golds. I don’t know when will it happen but the future is bright.

So are 20 medals in 2020 a possibility?
20 medals or 20 gold medals?

You choose…
Well, as of now 20 gold medals is a hard task. But why not give it a shot?