“Success is not a one-off event.Doing the right things consistently day in and day out is what leads to success ” so said India’s first individual Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, to the country’s shooting squad ahead of Paris Summer Games.

Bindra who win gold in 2008 Beijing Games in air rifle event was speaking to the national shooters during a session organised by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi

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“You have to be brutally honest with yourself and every day look yourself in the mirror before you go to sleep and ask yourself – did I do my best? If the answer is yes you will find you will have the result eventually,” he said while stressing on the need for self-discipline.

India have already secured a total of 19 quotas in shooting for the Paris Olympic Games across rifle, pistol, and shotgun disciplines.

This will be India’s largest shooting contingent ever at any edition of the Summer Games, eclipsing the 15 from Tokyo 2020.

Talking about his own Olympic experience Bindra advised the future stars to learn from his shortcomings.

“You know I strongly believe that I could not achieve my full potential. I wish I had more balance in life and could have other hobbies. I almost dehumanised my pursuit,” he said

“I would definitely tell myself to be kinder to myself. I feel I didn’t pat myself on the back too often after I had achieved the goals I had set out to achieve. I feel that then you could recover better when you go back to the shooting range and be mentally stronger in competition. If you have several pillars in your life, your base is stronger,” he opined.

Toa question of coach Manoj Kumar as to what tools he had developed to counter Olympic expectations , Bindra repliee, “You have to increase your self-awareness as a shooter. The changes that are happening around you, you have to acknowledge them.”

On specific preparations ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games, Bindra said, “You know by that time it was my fourth Olympics and I had managed to totally detach myself from the outcome. I was focused on the process. I wanted to do my best with every single shot. I never thought of winning or losing. I managed to stay in the present moment because the truth is in the present moment.”

Bindra concluded by advising shooters not to train to get better in training but to get better in competitions.
“Do not get into their comfort zones in training and to challenge themselves constantly and make it harder.”