A remarkable journey to Delhi Commonwealth Games
At the start of Commonwealth Games, a big story that hit the media was about athletes who had denied participating in the event. However, as the Games ended, there appeared a couple of athletes who did all they could to be part of this event. They were Carlos
and Rico Yon, the two shooters from St. Helena; one of the most isolated island in the world which is situated in vast and empty spaces of southern Atlantic Ocean.
From St. Helena, the nearest large swath of land is about 1200 miles away. The next nearest spots are about 1510 miles to the south of the island. St. Helena is a small island with a total population of not more than 4000. The place does not have any airstrip
yet, which means that let alone India, it takes a lot of time for reaching anywhere else.
Sharing about their marvellous efforts for making it to the Delhi Commonwealth Games, 44-year-old Carlos said that the journey took a total of 33 days to make it to Delhi. Without a hint of frustration, the shooter said that they set for Cape Town on 26th
of August. Their only link to the outer world was a boat which they called RMS St. Helena.
Rico, the 18-year-old shooter from St. Helena when asked about how often their boat used to stop, he shyly said “pretty often, once every six weeks”. Rico and Carlos were accompanied by two other team members, and all four of them constituted the smallest
contingent of 71 nations at the games. The contingent told the media that they had to spend five days on sea during the first leg of their journey to the Delhi Commonwealth Games. While commenting upon their journey on the sea, one of them said that had the
winds and tides not been so kind, that part of the journey could have taken much longer for them.
Sharing thoughts about their voyage at RMS, the only boat which the people of St. Helena use for travelling to the outer world, Carlos said that the trip was worth remembering. Though it was not very big, yet it had skittles, cricket and bingo on the deck.
He further said that he and his teammates had rather a good time on the boat. They played a lot of cards during the journey. He said that they used to play Yuka, so there used to be a lot of banging on the tables.
Carlos told the reporters that two of his team members celebrated their birthdays on sea. He said that the captain of the boat was really kind, and he made two cakes for them and gave them cards to play. Carlos revealed an interesting fact that it was first
time Rico had been into such a large city. Before that he had only once been out of St. Helena, when he visited another island with a population of about 1000.
When asked about what was it like coming from a roughly ten by five miles island to a teeming city of 17 million people, 18-year-old Rico said that it was much serene at their home place. Depicting a magnificent understanding, he said that at Delhi everything
was so fast and people around him seemed to be in a hurry.
While he was standing at Pragati Maidan, perhaps the most peaceful place in Delhi covered with trees and grass, Carlos looked around and said that the place was quite hectic. He said that he found the place far busier than St. Helena. The shooter said that
back at home the maximum car speed limit was 30 miles an hour. Moreover, they did not have cars like he saw in Delhi. He said with frantic looks on his face that there was too much noise in their host city.
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