Indian Olympic heroes Abhinav Bindra and Deepa Malik recently attended the India Today conclave in Mumbai in which they spoke about various topics in relation to Indian sports including India’s recent sucess in paraolympics. It was a treat to listen Abhinav Bindra and Deepa Malik discuss the future of Indian sports.
Deepa Malik – “The sudden change of the event, from javelin to shot put, nobody had put their stakes on me so you could say that I was the perfect underdog.”
“Baby ko gold pasand hai, but I’m not yet ready for the Para Athletics Championships because unfortunately, my dad is not well right now. So I guess this year I’m going to lie low but definitely 2018.”
“I am enjoying this whole festivity of Para sports because it has never been celebrated so well in my country. So for now I’m absorbing all that which we have never had before. This whole inclusive celebration of a Paralympic or an Olympic level medal.”
“Para sports is on the cusp of change absolutely agree with it. For example like today, being a part of such a prestigious platform (India Today Conclave 2017), sitting next to Abhinav. I think there is this whole flow of at-par which is coming forward. We’ve (para athletes) been spoken about, written about and felicitated. But the endorsements are not coming in yet (laughs).”
Abhinav Bindra – “I was in a lonely sport so I’m used to being alone at the top.”
“When I was an active shooter I needed a certain amount of fat. Now I’m trying to lose that post retirement. My diet doesn’t consist of carbs (carbohydrates) anymore. Maybe I’ll come back (from retirement) in 2028 or something (jokes). But on a serious note I have no plans to return to the sport.”
“I’m not an active athlete so I don’t get to see things on a daily basis. I hope Indian sports is changing for good. (Abhinav Bindra and Deepa Malik discuss the future of Indian sports) The sport of shooting in particular has a lot of talent and I hope its nurtured well and our athletes get the best possible preparation because only if they prepare every single day from here on, in the most effective way we will have any kind of a chance in the Tokyo Games in 2020.”
“Certain shooting events had to be dropped from the Games because of an IOC mandate because of agenda 2020 which requires gender equality. The sport of shooting had to lose some events and it is very natural that the people who lose out will be upset. It’s a natural human reaction and I was just a soft target (Bindra was criticised for cutting out some shooting events as head of ISSF athletes committee).”
