Bindra's world: Olympic spirit & social change

New Indian Express

21-06-2025

CHENNAI: There is nothing that unifies more than sport and brings joy to people's faces — Abhinav Bindra.
These words encapsulate the power of sport quite succinctly. Just a couple of days before the Olympic Day (June 23), Bindra spoke about Olympism, Olympic Value Education Programme and the Let's Move campaign and how collaborative initiatives in schools have led to social change. Some of the children have taken flights for the first time in their lives. A few even went to Lausanne.
A small initiative can usher in miracles. The true power of sport lies in its innate quality to bring in social upliftment and change. It can stir emotions that are unparalleled, can appeal to the senses and render justice to the highest form of being — life. The gold medal at the Beijing Olympics changed Bindra's life forever. Sport has, like he acknowledges, been his life and has given him everything. And this is a small way to give back to society, and in the larger context, India and the world. It has given him a new meaning.
The OVEP is one such vehicle that's created a new ecosystem across government schools in Odisha and Assam. Bindra is passionate while describing the nuances of the programme that was launched four years ago in Odisha. OVEP started as a programme to spread Olympism and spirit of sport, but Bindra says it has brought about not just social but behavioral changes in the students and even the parents.
For the uninitiated, OVEP is the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) initiative that "communicates the long-term benefits of sport and physical activity through an understanding of Olympism and its impact on individual health, enjoyment, and social interaction."
Bindra usually comes across as a man who has his emotions under control. Even his celebrations after winning countless medals were muted. Yet, during an online conversation with this daily, he sounded emotional. At times, he was excited while speaking about OVEP and how it has impacted lives. He says the attendance in schools have increased and more interestingly, girls have started participating in sport.
"We have had many positive stories coming out," Bindra explains. "There are many important things that have helped kids become active, but also have had a byproduct. There is better attendance in schools. There are behavioural changes in kids, a positive environment in schools and sport does that."
It is fascinating to converse with Bindra. He narrates anecdotes with such clarity that it keeps one engaged. "I have always been inspired by the role sport can play to shape society," he says. "As an athlete, maybe when I was competing, I saw sport from a very small lens. And that was trying to be on top of the podium. But after retirement, I realised that the true power of sport lies on what sport can really do to people, to normal people. How it can really play a positive role in shaping society, in our context in India."
Bindra believes that the essential need in India is to try and increase the playing population: "the need to embrace sport as a tool for nation building, the need for people to just play sport for the sheer joy of playing sport, because that is the only way you will build a culture for sport."
He feels through these activities "you will have more kids and more young people getting involved in elite sport. And then performances at the elite level will become a byproduct of a larger movement where communities and society on its own embrace sport."
Bindra has seen how the top countries win the majority of the medals at the Olympics and he has realized that more than money, it's the sport culture that helped the citizens pursue sports not just as a profession alone. "Sport is played by a normal person, not to become some champion, but just to embrace, make sport as a way of life. That is what we need to develop in India. And that is where I was very inspired by the OVEP," he says.
Bindra, who is a member of IOC's athletes' commission, has been doing his bit to spread Olympism in the country and through play and games they are able to imbibe Olympic values and values of sport into character development of kids. "There is no better way than sport to put our youth on the right track and the world to imbibe values that are so unique to sport. That is how we started with a small pilot four years back and that grew and we are now in about 60,000 schools with state curriculum integration in the states of Odisha, Assam, as well as the Union Territory of Chandigarh," he says. "We signed off and started Chandigarh earlier this year. We have had many positive stories coming out."
Last year, the IOC came up with their Let's Move campaign in India. He feels it is to get the global population to get moving. "Because of the IOC's partnership with the WHO, we know the numbers are at an all time high on lack of physical inactivity. That is going to have severe health related issues to the population in years to come. And there the role sport and Olympianism can play to make the world a better place."
Bindra's foundation has been involved in implementing the Let's Move campaign in the territories that they are working so deeply in these states for the last couple of years.