Tokyo Olympics 2020: IOC chief heaps praise on Abhinav Bindra and Niccolo Campriani for their 'Taking Refugee' project 

What's the story?

The President of International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach expressed his gratitude to Abhinav Bindra and Niccolo Campriani for their 'Training Refugee' project which is helping the refugee athletes to qualify for Tokyo Olympics 2020.

The background

The Olympics is the grandest sports competition on the planet where athletes from all over the world compete against each other in several sports. India's ace shooter, Abhinav Bindra had made history by winning the elusive Olympic gold medal for the nation in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Italy's Niccolo Campriani also made his countrymen proud with his performances in the Olympics.

Both the shooters had collaborated to work for the refugee athletes as just like Rio Olympics 2016, there will be a Refugee Olympic Team which will take part in this year's competition.

The heart of the matter

In his letter to the two former Olympians, Bach thanked them for their social service. He wrote,

"Thank you for your letter which I read with great interest informing me of the progress of the project 'Taking Refugee'. Rest assured I am extremely pleased with the impressively rapid progress of the athletes and also by the measures taken at the governance level for an increased accountability and transparency of the initiative. Not only this project is commendable, it is also entirely aligned with the objectives of the IOC which supports youth refugee athletes."

He further praised their selfless action and signed off saying,

"As true Olympians and through your selfless action, you have demonstrated your greatness beyond the field of play. You can be proud of yourselves."

What's next?

As per sources, Bindra hosted two shooters namely Khaoula and Mahdi in his camp at Bengaluru last year. It is great to see two former shooters come together for such a noble cause.