GIIS welcomed one of Indias greatest athletes- Olympic gold medallist and shooter Abhinav Bindra on Friday, 3rd Feb at GIIS Queenstown Campus as part of the GIIS Leadership Lecture Series. Accompanying Mr Bindra was Mr Rohit Brijnath, Senior Correspondent, The Straits Times, Singapore and co-author of A Shot at History, a biography on Mr Bindra.

Abhinav Bindra holds a special place in the hearts of millions of Indians for the pride and honour he has brought to the country by winning the first and only individual gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Principal Mr Ramesh Mudgal and Vice Principal Ms Meenakshi Mehta received the special guests to the GIIS Queenstown Campus before proceeding to the auditorium where students accorded Mr Bindra and Mr Brijnath with a rousing welcome and standing ovation. The programme began with an introduction of the star athlete by the emcees Amol Paranjape and Malvika Nair.

Mr Rohit Brijnath, the co-author of the book A Shot at History, is a veteran sports writer and the fact that he knows Abhinav Bindra well was instrumental in encouraging the latter to narrate excerpts from his life including details about his training sessions, his goals and beliefs and his experiences from participating in three Olympic Games. Mr Brijnath reminded the audience that Mr Bindra had participated in the 2002 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympic games before winning at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He handed over the microphone to Mr Bindra to share more on the Olympic experience.

Abhinav Bindra spoke about his Olympic experience, his penchant for shooting, the hard hours of training, his determination to succeed above everything else and the persevering efforts leading up his win. An audience of 600-plus students listened with awe, fascinated by the candid remarks from a man they looked up to as the athlete who had done it all.

Abhinav Bindra: "I was in awe of the aura of Olympics at Sydney, as it was my first Olympics. Olympics is one of the most romanticised platforms for sport and it was an incredible feeling just to be around 10,000 of the worlds best athletes compete and be present there, even just to be a part of it. I remember that I loved the opening ceremony at Sydney amongst 100,000 people but that changed in Athens where although the opening ceremony was spectacular it seemed long, because my first competition was two days after the opening ceremony! My goals had changed and I wanted to do everything better. In Beijing that changed even more when I wanted to achieve success at any cost. Ill be competing in my fourth Olympics in London and I am really looking forward to it."

Mr Brijnath spoke about the hard work and long hours of training put in by Mr Bindra over the years, sharpening his skills and putting in extra efforts all along as a shooter.

Abhinav Bindra: "My hard work gave me confidence going into Beijing Olympics. I was a winner in my own eyes going into Beijing, having done every possible thing to do my best.

When I started shooting at a young age I thought it was the perfect sport for me since I didnt have to do much except stand still. Later I realised that I needed to be extremely fit and have a lot of concentration. I train daily for around 7-8 hours. I shoot for around 4 hours, do physical training for around 2 to 3 hours; jog 10 km about 3-4 times a week and spend about 2 hours in the gym doing weight training, a bit of core training- a combination of things. I look at all aspects of performance and each one is very important for me."

It takes a lot of patience and courage, as Mr Brijnath reminded the audience, to become a great athlete. "It takes years to get there, even though people want to do it faster. It needs a lot of courage to be an athlete as well because there will be times when things do not go right."

Abhinav Bindra: "I went into one competition and failed miserably. I had just expected things to happen. Thats when it struck me that every shot is a new shot and no matter what you do in life, you have to take one step at a time. I have been frustrated and disappointed many times, but failure teaches you a lot. You need a lot of determination to stand up again. You have to be honest to your goal and honest to your dream. I stuck to my goal and finally won in Beijing."

The frequent applause from the students in the audience was a testimony to Abhinav Bindras popularity in the young crowd. Amongst the students in the audience was Aman Mittal, IB Year 1 who said, "It was very fascinating to be up close with an Olympic gold medallist and be able to find out first hand, the extraordinary efforts that are required to become an extra ordinary person from an ordinary man." Another student from Class 8 IGCSE, Pooja Swaroop said she will remember being able to meet an Olympic gold medallist for many years to come. What impressed her most was his story about taking up shooting as a child since he was lazy but ended up becoming as physically fit as any other athlete!

Next up was an interactive Q&A session where students were invited to satisfy their queries and ask questions to Abhinav Bindra.

On behalf of GIIS, Principal Mr Ramesh Mudgal gave mementoes to honour Mr Abhinav Bindra and Mr Rohit Brijnath. Later, students who had bought copies of the book A shot at history were given an opportunity to get the autographs of both the special guests on stage. Lakshmi Pradeep, Class 8 IGCSE was one of the lucky students with a copy of the book who could get the coveted autograph of the co-authors and she was charmed by the polite demeanour of the Olympian.

Mr Rajiv Vasudeva, Director, GIIS Singapore, summed it up aptly when he said that, "Such interactions inspire the students to learn from the best qualities of high achievers such as Abhinav Bindra and they feel encouraged to do their best beyond their sphere".

Being able to meet, listen to the personal experiences of the great Olympian and shake hands with him will remain a precious memory for a very long time, a memory that will inspire them to try to do their best. Students wished him good luck for the 2012 London Olympics. Come June and they will clap for many sports heroes but their most special cheers will ring only for one shooter - Abhinav Bindra.

Link to view images of Abhinav Bindras interaction with GIIS students

https://picasaweb.google.com/GIISHQ/OlympicGoldMedallistAbhinavBindraAndRohit
BrijnathVisitGIIS#

Link to view videos of Abhinav Bindras visit to GIIS

http://www.youtube.com/giisheadquarters