Winning at all costs is not necessary: Pullela Gopichand

Indian national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand on Friday urged the society to relook at the concept of "winning at all cost" and said people's focus should rather be on reaching their full potential.

"Winning at all cost is not necessary as a society, it should be more about good character than good features and if you are in a position of power it should be about justice to everybody and as a celebrity to be about being a good role model. In money vs relationships, we should be able to choose good relationships and that is what matters," he said.

Gopichand was speaking on the live session on Sports Authority of India's (SAI) Facebook page, he reflected on his own life as a player and then as a coach. He revealed that for him success no longer is about winning, but to reach one's full potential.

"Coaches should give their 100 per cent and not only think of success in terms of winning a competition but as something their ward sets out to do and then achieves. Each individual is talented and has potential but only one athlete at a time can represent the country at a particular at the Olympics," he said.

He gave examples of Abhinav Bindra, Sa Nehwal and PV Sindhu and said the reason they were able to win medals at the Olympics was because they gave it their all and at the end of the day, that is all that should matter.

"As a society, we need to stop being goal-oriented and rather become process-oriented because that is what will help all of us grow," Gopichand said.

He also took the opportunity to thank his parents and coaches for helping him reach where he is today and specially thanked badminton veteran Prakash Padukone for being an inspiration to many.

He ended his session urging coaches to help their ward reach their potential and asked the athletes to give it their all on the ground, but also remember to let the loss go if they don't win.

( With inputs from ANI )