A poor end to a shoddy event

On Monday, at a damage-control press conference called by the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) to defend its conduct of the IWAS Games, PCI vice-president Amar Singh had the cheek to give PCI “98 percent marks for the conduct of the Games”. Not once through the weeklong event did the athletes, coaches or other invitees have one good word to say about an event which has been an embarrassment for the country. And yet the vice-president, son of PCI president Rathan Singh, patted himself on the back and gloated over its “successful” conduct.

A day later, the glories of the PCI were there for all to see in the musty interiors of the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium. The closing ceremony was every bit as disgraceful as the week-long event, a culmination of the blunders that were apparent all along. The ‘ceremony’ began an hour late, with speeches tom-tomming the PCI and associated functionaries, but it was to an indifferent audience because all the assembled 200 or so athletes were shifting restlessly. Indeed, some of the teams invented their own entertainment before the speeches began, with the Brazilians showing some nifty Capoeira moves. “You see, the athletes have organised their own closing ceremony,” muttered Uli Niepoth, physio of the German team, which was planning to walk out of the ceremony.

Perhaps the only redeeming feature of the whole event was the performances, from Indian and foreign athletes. Ignoring the sub-standard conditions, they set world record performances across various events. Those who witnessed them in action returned full of respect for a community that has largely been neglected in India.

On the sporting front, China won the overall trophy with 47 gold, 18 silver and 6 bronze medals. India were declared runners-up with 32 gold, but there was incredulity in various quarters of how the hosts, who had only 15 gold medals until Monday night, suddenly chalked up 17 more.

The ‘closing ceremony’ itself consisted of self-congratulatory speeches by PCI functionaries such as Rathan Singh (president), Amar Singh (vice-president), David Premnath (technical in-charge of the Games), and a terse message by Maura Strange (Gen Secy of IWAS). All this, of course, was amidst a general din, the stink of pigeon poop, and athletes ignoring the proceedings and amusing themselves. Things mercifully came to an end after dance shows by two groups. The damage to India’s credibility as a sporting venue however has been incalculable.

“We came here at 4, but nobody seems to know what’s going on. We’d rather be at the hotel. The opening ceremony and general organisation was bad, and many of our athletes decided not to turn up for the closing ceremony. We’re happy with the way we were treated at the hotel and restaurants and when we went out shopping, but the stadiums and vehicles have been terrible. We weren’t even able to use the toilets in the stadium.”