A massive effort to improve living conditions at the athlete’s village in New Delhi has convinced officials that Canadian athletes should get the green light to participate in the problem-plagued Commonwealth Games.
“It was a good day indeed,” Scott Stevenson, director of sport for Commonwealth Games Canada, said Thursday during a telephone conference call from the Indian capital.
“We really felt we turned a corner today. We are starting to feel this is going to happen and it’s going to be a good Games. We do feel much better today.”
The first Canadian athletes are expected to arrive in the village Sunday.
Several teams, including Canada, delayed their arrival in New Delhi because of hygiene and security concerns at the athletes village. Earlier this week Canadian officials called the athletes’ quarters unlivable due to excrement in rooms and problems with plumbing, wiring and furnishings.
If conditions did not improve, there was a possibility Canada and some other countries could keep their athletes home.
Swimmer Brent Hayden found the uncertainty frustrating.
“I just want to race,” said Hayden, who was scheduled to flew to Singapore with the rest of the Canadian swim team. “I’m still eager to put on the best show that I can.
“I’ll sleep at the pool if I have to.”
Stevenson was encouraged by a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who has taken charge of ridding the squalor from the athletes village.
Soon after the meeting, over 800 labourers began a cleanup and repair operation.
Andrew Pipe, president of Commonwealth Games Canada, applauded the effort. He warned Canadian officials will remain vigilant of how Games organizers deal with issues like security, transportation and maintenance.
“We will continue to maintain a very robust and very rigorous scrutiny of other areas of Games activity (so) we can constantly ensure the safety and security of our team members,” Pipe said.
The possibility of the world’s third largest city being embarrassed on the international stage seems to have sent a jolt of urgency through organizers. Less than two weeks remain before the opening ceremony.
Workers sprayed for mosquitoes while crews with mops scrambled to clean the village and plant flower beds. Finishing touches were also being made to competition venues.
Meanwhile, hundreds of singers and dancers held a dress rehearsal for the opening ceremony in the main stadium.
Canada is sending a team of 400 athletes, coaches and support staff to the Games. The 12-day competition, which opens Oct. 3, will attract 7,000 athletes from 71 countries and territories.
India hoped the event would showcase the country’s emergence as a regional powerhouse. But long delays in getting facilities ready and a list of scandals have turned pride into embarrassment.
Many of the venues were finished late.
Organizers also have struggled with financial scandals, an outbreak of dengue fever, the collapse of a footbridge leading to the main stadium and security fears after the Sunday shooting of two tourists outside one of New Delhi’s top attractions. A Muslim militant group took responsibility for the shooting.
English sports officials said Thursday they have “unanimously” agreed to send the country’s 500-member team to the Games. But New Zealand will decide within 24 hours if its athletes will attend.
Dave Currie, New Zealand’s team manager, said he’s lost faith in the Indian organizing committee’s ability to solve problems. He called the last-minute attempt to bring facilities up to scratch “like trying to stop the Titanic.”
Four British cyclists — including Olympic gold medallist Geraint Thomas — said Thursday they were withdrawing from the Games. Among the eight athletes who have pulled out over concerns for their health and safety are Canadian archers Dietmar Trillus, a former world champion, and Kevin Tataryn.
Canadian athletes travelling to New Delhi are being advised not to leave the protection of the village or Games venues and training facilities.
Prime Minister Mammoth Singh met Thursday night with his sports minister and New Delhi officials about the Games’ preparations. They did not give details on what was discussed.
Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee chairman Surges Aladdin, whose organizing team has been mired in graft allegations, was not asked to attend the meeting.
New Delhi beat Hamilton for the right to host the Games in 2003.
Pipe said for the last two years Indian organizers have been warned their preparations were behind schedule but “these pleas fell on deaf ears.”
The Indian government initially pegged the cost of the Games at less than US$100 million in 2003. Estimates now are between $3 billion and more than $10 billion.