Tata Steel Kolkata 25K Event Ambassador and 2008 Beijing Olympic gold-medalist in 10 m air rifle event Abhinav Bindra today said as an active shooting professional he ran 10 km five days a week to be at the top of his fitness.
Here in Kolkata for the seventh edition of Tata Steel Kolkata 25K 2022, Abhinav was overwhelmed to see the response from the city and wished the participants the very best.
“It is really good to see the response in Kolkata and spirit of the people. The city has been quite close to my heart. It is wonderful to see the event happening again after a gap. It is such a fine platform to bring together people from all walks of life be it men or women, ” Bindra said.
“It is really heart-warming to see it grow year after year. It is all about living in the moment, enjoy the experience, have a lot of fun, no matter what the outcome is and be happy,” he added.
“Olympics has always had a special place in my heart. It’s about the journey that we go though. We face ups and downs, but you need to enjoy the journey. I was in a sport which required cardiovascular fitness. When you are under pressure or shooting, your heart beats fast. You can only cope with this pressure when you are physically fit. I used to spend hours in gym to keep myself fit and worked on my cardiovascular fitness running 10 kms five days a week,” Abhinav said while talking to the media.
In his stellar sporting career that included a World Championship gold and multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, Bindra has seen it all. Sharing more about his experience, he said, “I am now retired. It has really been a special journey throughout my career. Besides winning medals for my country, I look back at my career very differently and from different lengths. I have grown special relationships with my parents and the competitors. The sport has taught me how to win, how to fight, how to respect opponents.”
When we talk about Olympics, Bindra is someone from whom every aspiring athlete draws inspiration. Speaking about the current lot of Indian shooters and the prospect of winning medals at the Olympics, he said, “We may not have won medals at the Tokyo Olympics, but I am sure we will do well next time in 2024 Paris Olympics. We have good talents in our country and I what we can do is support them with all our heart. The sport has grown in India. Before we had some 200 participants in National Shooting, now it’s around 10,000. This shows the growth.”
Talking about the ongoing Football World Cup, he said: “I am rooting for Argentina. Messi is such a fabulous player and he surely deserves a world cup trophy before he retires.”
Report- Pratyusha Mukherjee
