SAI officials addressed by Abhinav Bindra in a special online session

Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra on Monday addressed a special session for the newly-appointed Assistant Directors at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and other senior officials.

The shooter was joined by Nandan Kamath, lawyer and managing trustee GoSports Foundation.

Addressing the newly-appointed Assistant Directors, Bindra said that as sports administrators, they need to work towards creating an alternate skill development programme for athletes to ensure their well-being in the long run.

"We need to look after athletes because the very nature of sport is that more will fail than succeed. It is important that athletes have backup plans in case their sports career doesn't work out," Bindra said in a statement.

Bindra shared some other tips like the importance of striking relationships with experts and coaches. He suggested that they should undertake a one or two day workshop with the experts to understand processes.

"It is important to strike relationships with the experts and coaches that various federations have," Bindra said.

"An expert can give a larger overview of the various elements that go into sporting performance and that's where you will understand where performance is built and what are the various elements that go into performance and then you will start to have a better and deeper understanding of where performance is built. Results at a competition cannot be the only denominator when planning for an Olympic Games or an Asian Games," he added.

Kamath said: "There should be a deep engagement with the process and to understand not just results but objectives and results connected with the objectives that you are seeking."

Bindra also stressed on the need to build a strong talent identification and nurturing programme.

"Getting foundations right is important, a lot of work on that has already been started with the Khelo India programme and also emphasis placed on junior programme of different sports," he said.

Speaking about how he sees Indian sport emerging after the current coronavirus pandemic subsides, Bindra said, "The post-Covid world could be a blessing in disguise for India. There may not be so much foreign exposure and this may allow India to build proper sporting infrastructure. We need to build our own coaches and our own support staff."

( With inputs from ANI )