Abhinav Bindra hails Tokyo-bound athletes’ ‘exceptional’ qualifying feats in pandemic

Abhinav Bindra

India's only individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra on Friday lauded the Tokyo-bound athletes for showing great determination and achieving the "exceptional" feat of qualifying for the Summer Games in the face of the Covid-19 adversity.

Bindra, the country's greatest Olympian, posted a heartfelt message, congratulating all Indian athletes who have qualified for the Tokyo Games, starting July 23.
"Many congratulations to each one of you for having defeated every challenge that dared stand in your way and securing qualification for the Tokyo Olympics 2021," Bindra wrote in a letter addressed to all participants via Twitter.

"For every athlete, the journey to the Games takes years of rigorous training and is full of hardships and setbacks, it takes immense dedication and resilience to reach where you are now, where only a few special women and men from our nation have gone," he added. So far, 100 athletes have qualified for the Tokyo Games, including 56 men and 44 women.

"Your rare feat is all the more exceptional considering how the ongoing pandemic would have forced you to change your respective training plans in order to prepare for these Olympic Games," Bindra said.

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