Abhinav Bindra slams India's sporting mindset: 'We only celebrate winners'

Abhinav Bindra's honest take on India's sporting culture

During his interaction at the Rising Bharat Summit in New Delhi on Wednesday, Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra gave a candid assessment of the situation and perception of sport in India, saying that the country is only infatuated with the idea of achievement in sport and not sport in general.

After becoming the nation's first individual Olympic champion by winning gold in the men's 10m air rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bindra's unrestrained passion for sports prompted him to pursue a career in entrepreneurship and philanthropy.

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In addition, the accomplished Indian shooter founded the Abhinav Bindra Foundation with the goal of promoting greatness among Indian athletes and advancing sports science.

In response to a question concerning the current status of sport in India, Bindra elaborated on the relatively superficial view of sport that prevails at the moment—the fixation on success—and emphasized the necessity of significant change to guarantee the growth of sport and athletes in India as the years pass by.

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“I think we have to start looking at sport a little bit differently. I think so far we have looked at the role of sport from a very narrow perspective. Our relationship, as a society, with sport has been pretty transactional in nature. We only support athletes when they win," Bindra stated at the Rising Bharat Summit.

“As a country, I am not sure if we love sport. I think we are in love with winning in sport. We have to truly fall in love with sport," Bindra added.

“How do we do that? In my perspective, we start doing that by starting to look at sport from a much larger perspective. On a much larger lens, on how truly sport can contribute in all facets of life."

Bindra continued by elaborating on the several ways and disciplines that sport in general may influence, emphasizing the advantages for mental and physical health, the role that sport plays in empowering women, and the necessity of integrating sport with growth.

“We need more people to just embrace sport. Not win in sport, but to purely enjoy sport for all the other joys and positives that it provides. When that happens, I truly believe that the medals and the glory shall come as a by-product of the same."