‘I worked on strategy for Olympics’

He has been luckier than a lot of others, in the sense that he has had quite a bit of support from the US and Switzerland, where senior woman shooter Gaby Buehlman has been a strong shoulder. Says the champion, ‘‘Gaby is an active shooter and does a spot of coaching. I have been in touch with her and have been training with her. I’ve also been in the US for the past seven months, studying in Colorado, and I have been training at the Olympic Training Center there, where American national coach David Johnson was around, as was Dr Shaun McCann, their sports psychologist. All that’s helped.’’

This sort of help becomes necessary in a set-up like India’s, where the establishment does little or nothing to help the process of creating a champion. Instead, often the achievements of individuals like Bindra, who do most of the build-up on their own, help these associations profit from the performances. Bindra doesn’t take the National Rifle Association to book, but does suggest a couple of moves.

‘‘It’s not like they are doing nothing,’’ he says, ‘‘They support the shooters and send them for competitions abroad, which helps. But they can always do more. We have good ranges. But we need specific coaches from abroad like rifle coaches and pistol coaches and so on. Particular coaches who will not only help me and Anjali, but also shooters in general and help the standard in the country go up.’’

Bindra also has high hopes of Bhagwat, who is going to be his co-passenger on the flight to Athens. He says, ‘‘She’s been doing really well. She’s right up there and her scores are very high. She is in superb form, and she has a chance of doing really well at the Olympics. Just hope for her and the country that she does well.’’

But all that’s been written so far is in the air. The real thing starts after a series of World Cups leading up to the Olympics, where ‘‘there are three slots available, and if they do well, maybe a couple more Indians can qualify’’. But for our man Bindra, ‘‘I’ve shot 600 in training. My training scores are very high, which of course doesn’t mean that I can go and shoot 600 everyday. That’s my goal for the Olympics. If I shoot to my potential then I am in line for a medal, but you never know.’’

Also, for Bindra, ‘‘The Olympics don’t come every four years, they come every day. There won’t be any difference if I get up to go train right now or if I have to shoot in a competition, or indeed, at the Olympics. It’s not every four years; it’s every day. So I have to stay right up there.’’