Abhinav Bindra Says India At Minus 30 Level in Sports Science

Legendary Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra on Monday minced no words while highlighting the state of Indian sports infrastructure.

Speaking to NDTV, India's only individual Olympic gold medallist said the country was at minus 30 level when it came to sports science.

Bindra also stated that merely putting plans on paper wasn't enough and systems needed to be efficient throughout the year and not just ahead of the Olympics.

"I want to make cutting edge technology available to Indian athletes. We are at minus 30 level in India in sports science. There's no point making plans only on paper if they are not implemented. Our systems cannot get efficient only 1 month before the Olympics," Bindra said.

After retiring at the end of the Rio Olympics, the 34-year-old launched a new business venture to set up micro high performance centres in India.

Bindra's company aims to improve fitness, medical and high performance side of sports in India.

"I have a new life now, I need to earn a living. Trying to do so by setting up micro high performance centres in India. I'm building something from scratch, and loving it," he said.

After ruling the shooting range for more than a decade, Bindra claims he was content and didn't miss the sport.

"I don't miss being an athlete. I don't miss the shooting range at all, haven't been there since my final in Rio, except once with my little nephew. I have no intentions of shooting again, have had my closure as an athlete," he said.

Interestingly, Bindra, who finished 4th at Rio 2016, said he'd have won at least another Olympic medal if India offered technological support.

"If I had technological support at home, I would've won at least another Olympic medal," Bindra further added.

Making another very important point, Abhinav said national camps should add value to the training program of an athlete.

"Sanctity of national camps in shooting or any sport has to returned. An athlete can't feel like a national camp is a waste of time for him. Lack of proper foundations ails Indian sport more than anything else," he stated.

Recently, the Bindra-led NRAI review committee chastised the Rio Olympics flop show while recommending a systematic overhaul.

The committee, in its 36-page report, concluded that the consistent trickle of shooting medals since the 2004 Athens Games ended up making everyone involved in the sport complacent.

(With inputs from Suprita Das)