In a heart-warming gesture, veteran shooter Abhinav Bindra along with three-time Olympic gold medallist Italy’s Niccolo Campriani hosted young refugee shooters to prepare them for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. This wonderful initiative saw the light in 2019 when Campriani decided to help these young shooters score the minimum qualifying points in order to participate in the Olympics this summer. The athletes will represent the Refugee Olympic team, which itself debuted four years ago in the 2016 Rio Games.
Last year, Campriani launched this project and asked some of his friends to join the process, which included his former rival Abhinav Bindra. As of now, there are three refugees training hard in Campriani’s group, who took the trip to Bengaluru to practice under India’s sole Olympic gold medallist.
@Abhinav_Bindra’s words of wisdom, first and only (at least for 6 months…) individual Olympic champion in the history of India #TakingRefuge https://t.co/NDwlkzRP6f
— Niccolo Campriani (@campriani) January 29, 2020
Speaking on this initiative, Bindra said that the project is unique because it transcends sport while bringing the world together.
“Mahdi and Khaoula have been making great progress. I see more understanding of the sport. I see that they start feeling more things, and they are understanding the various elements of technique in a more effective manner. And they both seem very determined. I think more than anything, more than the performance aspect, I have seen a big change in them as human beings,” Bindra said.
“The first time I saw them, they were quiet and very, very reserved, and I see a greater degree of confidence every time I meet them. Sport is helping them define their personalities in a little way and helping them become better human beings, helping them gain more self-confidence. And I think that is a great victory in itself” he told the Olympic Channel.
Two #Tokyo2020 hopefuls made a special trip.
The refugee shooters traveled to India for advice from Olympic champion @Abhinav_Bindra and 10m air rifle world number one @ApurviChandela.
Hear Bindra's take on success: https://t.co/5Sl97KyrJx
@IndianOlympians @ISSF_Shooting pic.twitter.com/6yvOphbFCn— Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) January 29, 2020
Khaoula, who is competing in her first tournament this year under the ISSF Refugee Team Banner in the H&N Cup, scored her personal best of 606 and 612.3 in the first and second 10m Air Rifle event respectively. Mind you, the minimum qualifying score for the Olympics is 590 for her category.
Meanwhile, Campriani’s initiative is being filmed by the Olympic channel in a series named Taking refuge: Target Tokyo 2020.
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