Prestigious Olympic Order and Boria Majumdar with Abhinav Bindra (PC: Boria Majumdar/X)
The final day of the Paris 2024 Olympics has arrived, with India concluding their campaign with six medals. However, there is still anticipation surrounding Vinesh Phogat’s final decision, which could potentially add another medal to the tally. Meanwhile, former Indian shooter and 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medalist Abhinav Bindra has elevated India’s presence at the Olympics by receiving a prestigious honour in Paris—the Olympic Order. After receiving this esteemed award, Bindra had a brief conversation with RevSportz’s Editor-in-Chief, Boria Majumdar. Here are some highlights from their discussion.
You have been bestowed with the Olympic Order. First thoughts?
– Well, it is a matter of a great honour and I am truly humbled and overwhelmed to receive the highest recognition of the Olympic movement. Ever since I was a young boy, the Olympic rings gave me meaning and I pursued my own Olympic dream with a great amount of action. Post my career, I tried to give back to the Olympic movement, and the Olympic movement continues to give me a lot of meaning. So, this recognition only fuels my desire to keep working and keep working harder to keep contributing to the movement and then to society in general.
As one of the youngest, in fact the youngest from India. Thoughts on that?
– Well, what can I say? I think for me it has been always using the power of sport. For greater nation-building, the programs that I am running are meant for young people, for school kids, harnessing the power of sport, which to me go far beyond the field of play. And just trying to make sure that the youth of the country is able to create a culture for sport, which I believe is immensely important as a nation-building exercise. It is not just about our athletes winning gold medals. But the role of sport is far more than that and I am trying to use sport as an important vehicle to harness the energy of the youth in the right direction.