NEW DELHI: "I am glad to have brought joy to so many people. I always knew that I could do it. It is a good feeling, but it does not make much of a difference to me that I am a World champion. Life goes on", said air rifle ace Abhinav Bindra as he returned to a warm welcome at the Indira Gandhi airport here on Friday morning.

The 23-year-old said that doctors in Germany have diagnosed his back problem as a muscular discrepancy, and that he would be focusing on the rehabilitation over the next few weeks before getting back to shooting.

The doctors would assess the progress again to decide whether surgery would be required to set the problem right. However, Abhinav was quick to point out that the pain had not stopped him from giving his 100 per cent in the World Championship at Zagreb, Croatia.

Single-minded focus

"Whenever I compete, I expect to do well. On the day of the competition, I tried to block the pain out of my mind. It was a good final. No matter how hard you try, you need things to go your way. It is such a competitive sport that there is not much of a difference to winning and finishing 25th. It is hard for people to appreciate this point, but that is the truth", Abhinav observed.

Talking about the spurt of world-class fare in Indian shooting, Abhinav said that it was very good for the sport in the country.

"It is fantastic that Indian shooting is doing so well, on the world stage. It is time it got its due recognition. We have an Olympic silver medallist, we have World champions, World record holders and we have a bunch of very talented shooters. Maybe, we are on our way to winning more Olympic medals", said Abhinav.

Asked whether winning the Olympic gold would be his next target once he gets back in shape, Abhinav said that though he would be focusing on it hard and preparing his best, he would treat Olympics as another competition.

"If you ask me, it is the good performance that counts, not the medals. The performance doesn't always win you a medal. At the Athens Olympics, my performance was a 100 times better than what I did at the World Championship. Maybe, 90 per cent is in your hands, but the 10 per cent things have to fall in place", stressed Abhinav.

The Chandigarh lad dismissed the rivalry with fellow rifle shooter Gagan Narang who had won a World Cup gold recently along with the Olympic quota.

"Shooting sport is very intense. When you are shooting with 150 others, you can't be thinking about them. Basically you are competing with yourself. In any case, I get along well with Gagan and he is a fine shooter", said Abhinav.

To a question which sought to know whether training at his own range back home made it any easier for him to be the World champion, Abhinav countered by saying that just having training facilities did not make a champion.

"You have to go out and perform. Nobody can teach you that. You don't get world class achievements on a platter", Abhinav said.

In matching the temperament of the lad, who keeps a low profile and does not relish a loud celebration, it was a quiet reception for Abhinav as he was received by his parents, a few SAI and NRAI officials and the national media, before being whisked away.

He may be living in style, but Abhinav Bindra has trained very hard for over a decade with an admirable single-minded devotion to give himself the luxury of sporting the rare label — World Champion. That's something money cannot buy.

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