India's Mr Goldfinger plays it cool

Dubai: Abhinav Bindra, the shooter who won India its first-ever individual gold medal at the Olympics last year, has a cool head on his shoulders. While any other sportsperson with his level of achievement would already have been gung-ho about another gold at the 2012 Games in London, the 27-year-old remains characteristically pragmatic about it.

Although he has already begun dreaming again, Bindra remains fully conscious about the proverbial slip between cup and lip and does not promise anything. Maybe, his education (an MBA from the University of Colorado) and his privileged upbringing has taught him to take a rather dispassionate look at life - something that came in handy holding his nerve on that eventful morning in Beijing last August.

The NDTV Indian Sportsperson of the Year, a title he won earlier this month, was the latest in a series of awards and recognition that flowed for India's 'Mr Goldfinger' over the last few months.

The articulate Bindra took time out to speak to Gulf News from India on a range of subjects. The following are edited excerpts from the interview:

Gulf News: It's been more than five months now since you won the first-ever individual gold medal in the Olympics for India. How has life changed?

In many ways, it has changed but it hasn't. My goal for the last 14 to 15 years was to achieve this. I have grown up in an atmosphere where nobody has done this before - I am yet to think beyond this,

Have you set yourself your next target yet, maybe to become a double gold medallist in four years' time? In between, there is of course the Commonwealth Games in India.

No, I am afraid it does not work that way in my sport where the difference between a medal and even failure to qualify is a matter of a few millimetres. I have just refreshed myself and begun training. Ultimately, it all boils down to how you are performing on that particular day&

How is your training schedule going now?

I have just started the process and am also in touch with my coach who was with me in Beijing. Apart from my own event for the air rifle (10 metres), I am also training for a new event of 50 rifle shooting which I am finding quite enjoyable.

In a TV poll asking for the best sporting moment for India in 2008, your Olympic gold won hands down - beating the Indian cricket team's wins Down Under and even Tendulkar's world record. How does it feel?

Of course, I am happy with it. More and more people seem to be following other disciplines rather than cricket& there's definitely been a change. The reception I got on coming home was also unexpected, everyday people were overjoyed at my achievement.

The endorsement sector also seems to have warmed up to our medal winners at the Olympics. Both you and Vijender Kumar, the bronze medal winner in boxing, are appearing in TV commercials now.

Yes, I think it could bring about a change. The Olympic sports are non-paying ones and corporates should look beyond cricket to look after its achievers. Cricket, after all, is still not a globalised sport.

How do you look back at the last year for Indian sport?

It's been a great year on several fronts. However, we need to continue to get the process right to produce more champions. There is no magic recipe for this.

You courted controversy with a signed article in a leading newspaper in India, hitting out at sports officialdom. What's your take on the subject now?

See, I still stand by what I said. I have nothing against politics or politicians becoming sports officials, but they should show a degree of professionalism in what they are trying to achieve.

Things may have improved over the last few years, but there is still a long way to go. For example, if we want to do well in the London Olympics, we must have a vision and plan in place to win at least five medals there and work in that direction.

You announced plans for a Abhinav Bindra School of Excellence sometime ago, and mentioned setting up some 30 sports schools around the country. How has progress been so far?

It's still early days as I am still in negotiations with a couple of state governments for land&we could start with two to three schools to begin with. The schools will focus on nurturing champions at a grassroots level with a special emphasis on Olympic sports. It's a long-term plan and there's a lot to be done. There's a big financial aspect to it and unfortunately, the recent financial meltdown has not really helped matters. However, I should be coming out with the first announcement in a matter of weeks.