NEW DELHI: Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra has urged Indian athletes to learn from both the successes and disappointments of the Asian Games 2026, calling for stronger high-performance systems and a renewed focus on preparations for the Los Angeles Olympics, which are less than two years away.
Congratulating India's athletes and support teams after the country finished fourth in the Aichi-Nagoya Games with 85 medals, Bindra highlighted the years of hard work and sacrifices behind their performances while stressing the need for an honest assessment of the campaign. India finished with 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze medals, falling short of its record haul of 106 medals at Hangzhou 2023. However, the campaign produced several historic achievements, including gold-medal sweeps in men's and women's cricket, kabaddi and hockey. In a lengthy post on X on Sunday, Bindra thanked athletes, their families, coaches and support staff for their contributions before urging the sporting establishment to turn the lessons from Aichi-Nagoya into meaningful improvements.
'Enormous respect to our athletes'
"Congratulations to every Indian athlete and to Team India on the Asian Games. A Games campaign is never just the few days we see on television. It is years of early mornings, injuries, doubts, missed occasions and countless hours of work," Bindra wrote. "So first and foremost, enormous respect to our athletes and also to their families who live this journey with them and make sacrifices that are rarely seen. To the coaches, support staff, federations, SAI, the Government and everyone working behind the scenes, THANK YOU!"
The 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medallist in shooting acknowledged the breakthrough performances in Aichi-Nagoya, particularly those of young athletes who announced themselves on the continental stage. However, he stressed that disappointments must also be examined rather than simply forgotten. "There have been some terrific breakthrough performances at these Games. Young athletes have announced themselves, others have stepped up to a new level, and there have been moments that give us a lot to be excited about. There have also been disappointments. That is sport, and every Games will have them. What matters now is how honestly we learn from them," he added.
'LA is less than two years away'
Bindra called for a more comprehensive approach to athlete development, arguing that high-performance programmes must provide the right expertise throughout an athlete's career rather than stepping in only when medals are within reach. "High performance cannot only be about reacting when an athlete is close to a medal. We have to keep building systems that understand the athlete over several years," he wrote.
He emphasised the importance of sports science, data-driven decisions, coaching, competition planning, training-load management, recovery and injury prevention, alongside building physical and mental resilience. "Most importantly, the right expertise has to reach the athlete at the right stage of their career, not when it is already too late," he said.
With the next Summer Olympics approaching, Bindra warned that the preparation window was shrinking and called for immediate action. "LA is less than two years away. In Olympic sport, that is not a long time. The athletes who will stand on the podium there are already deep into their preparation today." His message was to celebrate the achievements, acknowledge shortcomings and return to work with renewed determination. "Be proud of what has been achieved. Learn from these Games and keep moving forward. Wishing Team India everything good on the road to LA," he concluded.
