Commonwealth Games, New Delhi: Last minute work still going on
Last minute repairs are still going on at the Nehru Stadium and the Athletes Village. As a result, doubts over India’s ability to successfully end the much discussed New Delhi Commonwealth Games in a desired way are in the air all over again. According to
latest reports, as the athletes were getting ready for the 100 meter event at the Nehru Stadium, workmen were observed to be toiling with the turf. No doubt the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium managed to leave a commendable impression upon the spectators around the
globe with a dazzling Opening Ceremony, but there seems a long way to go before the venues are finally ready.
An official busy with the rebuilding, construction and organizational work shared that they were still looking for laying down the tarmac for the athletic events. The running track was badly affected by the prolonged monsoon rains while the repaired tarmac
was damaged again during to the Opening Ceremony.
While sharing his concerns, Jonathan Edward, the former triple jump Olympic champion and a journalist covering the event, said that he felt as if there were so many people indulged into a lot of uncompleted work but they were depicting no sense of urgency
to accomplish the work on time. He voiced his doubts on a British media outlet while saying that a wider part of the track at the stadium needed to be repaired which was damaged during the inaugurating ceremony.
The former athlete further lamented that the kind of situation on hand was not something a top athlete would expect to face. It was something beyond imagination. He still raised hopes for the apparatus to be ready before the start of the first session. While
reporting for a British media outlet, Edward said that the locals had a culture where everything was taken care of at the last minute and perhaps that was the reason which was raising the real concerns. He reported to have seen many athletes who have visited
the track and were in shock to see the pace of the preparations.
The officials revealed to the media that they had suggestions which could have threatened the initial few sessions. However, they finally agreed upon sticking to the determination for moving forward according to schedule.
It was revealed that the track, still having been worked upon, was about to have a busy opening session. The events include: Two rounds for the men’s 100 meters heats, one round of women 100 meters, a qualifying round for men shot-put, the women’s hammer
throw, the first round of 400 meters for women and the final round of 500 meters for men.
Though the Delhi Commonwealth Games have been plagued by problems rearing their head at the eleventh hour, efforts being made by the organizers might help the event out of its troubles.
Making it worst to appear for Delhi, the media worldwide, particularly the western media which had eventually developed a positive impact of the Delhi Commonwealth Games owing to the spectacular opening ceremony, have started raising its concerns over the
unfinished work at Nehru Stadium. The media is particularly voicing the concerns of the players who have criticized the Delhi administration for taking grave issues quite lightly.
Besides athletes and players, Indian sports administration too have shown great concerns with the way issues are being dealt with on the part of the Delhi administration. An official from the sports administration told the media that failing to conduct the
event in a desired way can badly affect India’s image which would ultimately keep them from bidding for the world Olympics. He further lamented that since the Games were being organized and administered by the Delhi administration, the sports administration
was quite helpless to intervene into the matters.
With news about bad management and procrastination constantly coming in, the Delhi Commonwealth Games are being feared for once again putting the eligibility of India for organizing large sport events under question. However, officials still claim to have
everything in control. The question about whether the world media was right in its approach for criticizing the Delhi administration for its reported mismanagement would only be answered once the event is over.
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