New Delhi: Current Indian athletes are far more gold medal oriented than players of their generation feels Abhinav Bindra, who is the country’s first individual Olympic gold medallist.
He broke the glass ceiling in 2008 Beijing Games with his shooting gold. Neeraj Chopra emulated him with his javelin gold in Tokyo 2020, which has fulled Indian athletes with self-belief.
With India fielding its largest ever contingent with over 125 athletes at Paris 2024, hopes are pinned on delivering the country’s biggets ever medals haul at Olympics.
“I came from a generation that was chicken hearted, in nature. These athletes are much more confident, have self belief. They want to go and win and not just win but win gold medals and it comes out very clearly. That is a reflection of our society, how it has developed over the years,” said Bindra at a panel discussion organised by the Embassy of France with the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Monday.
‘Focus on the present’
The multi-sport extravaganza begins in Paris on July 26 with Bindra urging the athletes to maintain focus without dwelling on results.
“The conversations are different now. But there are similarities, they have to show up in Paris and perform on that particular day. It’s not going to get easier in any way. They have to learn to soak in the pressure and focus on process perfected over years, process of execution of their skills,” the 41-year-old said.
“The biggest mistake athletes make is that they are either living in the past or thinking about what the future holds. They forget about the only reality that exists, remaining present in moment.”
The Indian Olympic Association remain optimistic of bettering the haul of seven medals at Tokyo 2020, though Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla said winning medals shouldn;t be the only yardstick.
“Neeraj is Asian champion, CWG champion, World and Olympic champion. Every time he has thrown, somewhere in the world someone has thrown better that him. But on that day, Neeraj did his best. It was not 90m, it was 89 and it was gold.
“Will he do well, yes, will others do well, I hope they do. Yesterday Avinash Sable created a national record again, will that help him win, we don’t know. At last Worlds he could have won gold with same time but yesterday he was sixth. It’s difficult to predict,” he said.
“We have to see how many athletes were in London, Rio, Tokyo and how many now. How many made the finals then and how many now. If the number is up, is that a progressions, yes. That’s how I measure.”
With India fielding its largest ever contingent with over 125 athletes at Paris 2024, hopes are pinned on delivering the country’s biggest ever medals haul at Olympics. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
