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Abhinav Bindra, India’s only individual Olympic gold medallist, laid down his gun at the Rio Olympics to start a fresh innings in his life. Thoughts of turning the range at his home into a kitchen garden has been stalled, thanks to his nephew who wants to follow in his footsteps.
The 33-year-old, yet to decide on what he wants to do with his retired life, has momentarily traded the heavy shooting gear for crisp suits, delivering motivational speeches to inspire the next generation. On a damp Saturday morning, he was out at the Indian Institute of Management here to share his path to success.
After spending a brief while leisurely chatting with some of the brightest minds in the country, he told a packed audience attending the three-day annual management fest “Vista 2016” that process is what had kept him motivated than the medal itself. “I may have looked at the gold medal maybe 5-7 times. The medal is on the wall. It has no life. I’m not connected to it. For me, the journey is important. The sweat, blood and toil in achieving the goal is what is very important. Today, I can tell you that I’m very satisfied with the effort I’ve put in. The pleasure is in the process.
“In life, more so sport, you have to deal with several challenges. The medal is the culmination of hard work, years of practice and little bit of luck on that day. What gives me satisfaction is training. I hated competition. I’m not a natural competitor. But I’ve loved practising. Sports requires patience, perseverance and hard work. And that’s what you need in life.. Be honest in whatever you do,” said the ace shooter to a huge round of applause.
Totally ruling out a comeback, Bindra said one must learn to embrace failure to become a champion. “I always believed in the saying ‘failure is the stepping stone for success.’ You should not get bogged down by failure. You should embrace it and build a resistance around it. Pressure is part and parcel of any athlete’s life.
“I was in the form of my life heading into the Athens Olympics. I was 21 and qualified for the final with an Olympic record score. I was tipped to win but slipped down to seventh. I was completely heart-broken. While a faulty tile was a reason behind my failure it took me a while to get over it. I completely detached myself from results and started focussing on the process again. I started working hard again. I just wanted to give my best and didn’t care much about the result. I was lucky enough to win a gold medal. Athens changed me completely as a person.”
On a lighter note, Bindra said he chose shooting because it didn’t involve much physical activity! “I was fat as a kid. My mom wanted me to take up some sport but I hated physical activity. In shooting to succeed you needed to stand still. Hence my journey began!” he said triggering laughter all around.