Haryana : Abhinav Bindra, India’s lone individual Olympic gold medallist, on Sunday officially announced his retirement from shooting, saying ‘it is time to move on and hand over the baton to the younger generation.’ “It is an emotional day for me,” he said.
A near second Olympic medal was missed by a whisker at the recently-concluded Rio Olympics 2016 and even if he felt gutted, Bindra was not ready to show it in front of his country’s media.
“I came fourth in Rio and now retiring after playing for two decades. In Rio, I didn’t won a medal and stood fourth but it gave me a great closure,” he said.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics Gold Medallist also expressed gratitude to the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), saying the organisation supported him and others shooters at every stage of their career.
“NRAI has supported the shooters. I want to thank NRAI. Under President Raninder Singh the sport has improved by leaps and bounds,” he said.
“I have always believed in working hard. There is no substitute to hard work. I have given my all shooting and have got even more. Thank you once again everyone,” he added.
President of NRAI, Raninder Singh while felicitating India’s ace shooter, said that it was just a small gesture from the side.
“The devotion, the focus with which Abhinav Bindra trains, is an example for everyone,” he said.
Having started his Olympic journey in Sydney back in 2000, the 33-year-old shooter qualified in three Olympic finals including his golden journey of Beijing in 2008 (Athens being the other one) in his pet 10m air rifle, while he missed out in Sydney and London.
Bindra was last month appointed as the chairman of a review committee formulated by the NRAI to “examine and identify in a cold and ruthless manner” the reason as to why shooting failed to secure any medal at the recently-concluded Rio Olympic Games.
FUTURE PLANS…
After ruling the shooting range for more than a decade, Bindra, who will soon turn 34, hads set his sights on his new business venture. “I am trying to earn a living. I am involved in business, trying to earn a living, put food on the plate. Well I am interested in sport but sport you know is not going to give me much money. I am involved in certain things, which is to do with fitness, doing something on the medical side, and I am also trying to do something on high performance side of sports The role of sports science, sport medicine is incredibly important in modern day sport. We can’t do without it. I don’t think the whole concept is actually strong enough in our country.”
