Olympic Champion Abhinav Bindra expounded on a no-holds-barred look at the state and perception of sport in India, stating that the nation is merely in love with the idea of success in sport, but not sport as a whole, during his interaction at the Rising Bharat Summit in New Delhi on Wednesday. Bindra, whose unbridled dedication to sport culminated in his historic victory at the 2008 Beijing Olympics where he clinched gold in the men’s 10m air rifle event to become the nation’s first individual Olympic champion, later transitioned into entrepreneurship and philanthropy. The decorated Indian shooter also established the Abhinav Bindra Foundation, aiming to advance sports science and promote excellence among Indian athletes. When asked about the state of sport in India, Bindra expounded on the rather shallow perception of sport that exists currently– the obsession with success — and highlighted the need for major change to ensure the development of sport and sportspersons in India as the years roll by. “I think we have to start looking at sport a little bit differently. I think so far we have looked at the tole of sport from a very narrow perspective. Our relationship, as a society, with sport has been pretty transactional in nature. We only support athletes when they win,” Bindra stated at the Rising Bharat Summit. “As a country, I am not sure if we love sport. I think we are in love with winning in sport. We have to truly fall in love with sport,” Bindra added. “How do we do that? In my perspective, we start doing that by starting to look at sport from a much larger perspective. On a much larger lens, on how truly sport can contribute in all facets of life.” Bindra then went on to expound on the various manners and disciplines that sport as a whole can impact: highlighting the health benefits (both physical and mental), the role sport plays in uplifting women, and the need for development to be intertwined with sport in mind. “We need more people to just embrace sport. Not win in sport, but to purely enjoy sport for all the other joys and positives that it provides.” “When that happens, I truly believes that the medals and the glory shall come as a by-product of the same.”