Indian runner slams officials for lack of water – Hero’s welcome for Indonesian gold medallists
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NEW DELHI, Aug 23, (AFP): India ordered an inquiry Tuesday after an athlete said national officials failed to give her water during the Olympic marathon leading her to collapse, heaping further embarrassment following a poor showing in Rio.
Runner OP Jaisha, 33, told media she collapsed after the women’s marathon because Indian officials failed to provide refreshments at designated country stations during the race.
“I could have died there … Only once in 8 kms did we get water (from the Rio organisers) which did not help at all,” Press Trust of India quoted her as saying.
“All the countries had their stalls at every 2 kms but our country’s stall was empty,” she said.
The allegations prompted the sports minister Tuesday to announce an investigation.
“Sports minister constitutes two-member committee to inquire into the allegations of marathon runner O.P. Jaisha,” a statement issued by Sports Minister Vijay Goel’s office said.
A string of below-par performances saw India win just two medals — a silver and a bronze — at the Rio Games, fewer than the six clinched during their best-ever performance in London in 2012.
Jaisha’s allegations were yet another blow for Indian officials at Rio Games who — including the sports minister Goel — have been widely panned by local media for their behaviour.
The Rio organising committee slammed the minister’s entourage as “aggressive and rude,” and warned him for repeatedly trying to get unaccredited people into the Olympic venues.
The Indian Express newspaper accused Goel of spending his time in Rio taking selfies with “exhausted Indian athletes”.
Indian athletes complain of substandard training facilities and a lack of government investment in sport in the country of 1.25 billion.
Jaisha finished 89th in the women’s marathon with a time of 2 hours 47 minutes and 19 seconds.
India sent a 118-strong athlete contingent to Rio, its largest ever for an Olympic Games, and the sports ministry had set a target of 10 medals.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Olympic gold medal winners Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir were given a hero’s welcome Tuesday by hundreds of flag-waving fans as the badminton champions returned home.
They arrived at Jakarta airport to enthusiastic scenes from the waiting crowd, before travelling through the capital in an open-top, double-decker bus.
Ahmad thanked the sports minister and others who supported the players for “helping us achieve this success”.
“Hopefully our success can be repeated by our juniors and other athletes, hopefully this will motivate them,” he said. At the welcoming ceremony, Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi hailed the players’ victory as “the answer to eight years of yearning for an Olympic gold medal”.
Ahmad and Natsir were Indonesia’s only gold medal winners in Rio, beating Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia in the badminton mixed doubles.
It was the country’s first Olympic gold since the Beijing games in 2008.
The players will both receive a tax-free bonus of five billion rupiah ($380,000) for winning gold, as well as 20 million rupiah a month for the rest of their lives.
Indonesia pays the second-highest cash bonuses to its athletes who win Olympic gold, with only Singapore giving bigger payouts.
Also present at the welcoming ceremony were Indonesian weightlifters Sri Wahyuni and Eko Yuli Irawan, who both won silver in Rio. Indonesia won a total of three medals.
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