Indian Olympic Association President PT Usha on Wednesday said “unprecedented teamwork” between the sports ministry, IOA and the national federations ensured that Paris-bound athletes got the support staff of their choice and lashed out at critics for turning a “blind eye to such synergy”. The Sports Ministry has cleared 117 athletes and 140 support staff for the Paris Olympics, beginning July 26, with the standout feature being an almost three-fold increase in the number of support staff, including personal coaches, mental trainers and physiotherapists.
A 13-member Sports Science team especially constituted by the IOA under renowned sports medicine expert, Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, is also being sent with the team.
“At IOA, we have embarked on an era when athletes are at the centre of our planning and preparations. Instead of the usual 3:1 ratio between athletes and support staff, we have worked hard to change it to slightly better than 1:1 ratio,” said Usha in a statement on Wednesday.
She pointed out that 68 coaches and 50 support staff will accompany the 117 athletes.
Usha said despite the efforts to ensure athletes’ demands were met, it was “disappointing” to hear that some reports were still painting a negative picture of the work.
“Together with the sports ministry, and its units, the National Sports Federations and a good bunch of corporate partners, IOA had forged unprecedented teamwork. It is shocking that some have turned a blind eye to such synergy,” she added.
Despite the huge number of support staff being cleared, Antim Panghal, one of the six wrestlers who has qualified for the Olympics, is reportedly still waiting for visas for her four-member support staff, hampering her training.
Usha said she would ensure there are no further visa delays for any of the athletes’ non-accredited support staff and that she would take up issue of Antim’s coach Bhagat Singh, physiotherapist Heera and sparring partner Vikas with the Embassy of France in India.
She blamed the now disbanded ad-hoc committee for the confusion.
“In its wisdom the (IOA-appointed) Ad Hoc Committee, administering wrestling, chose not to include the names of Antim’s coach or physiotherapist in the long list of names sent to the Olympic Games Organising Committee,” said Usha.
“It is strange that the responsible authorities, who approved the long list of athletes, coaching and support staff, did not deem it fit to recommend the inclusion of Bhagat Singh or Heera or Vikas.
“It was only after Antim’s father came to IOA a few days ago that I stepped in to have them cleared by the Ministry. We are confident that despite such misleading reports, IOA will be able to facilitate a speedy processing of visa requests of those coaches and support staff cleared by the Ministry,” she added.
Antim also acknowledged Usha’s support in a social media post.
“I am extremely thankful to IOA prez PT Usha and Shiva Keshavan for understanding my probs (problems) and writing to French Consulate. I felt humbled,” she wrote.
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