A full house roared Australian golden girl Leisel Jones to a record-equalling 10th Commonwealth swimming title as Indians finally came out in numbers to support the ailing Delhi Games on Saturday.
The riddle of why crowds had been so sparse at the October 3-14 Games when so many tickets had been sold has been another blight on an already beleaguered event and a furious Games Federation had earlier ordered local organisers to launch an inquiry.
On Saturday night, however, 5 300 fans crammed into the swimming venue, 35 000 into the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for the athletics and a raucous crowd crammed into the tennis court where India’s top sportswoman Sania Mirza lost a singles final.
Jones, one of the greatest female breaststrokers of all time, left the aquatics arena through a guard of honour after joining fellow Australian swimmers Susie O’Neill and Ian Thorpe as the most successful athletes in the 80 years of the Games.
“To be up there with names like that is something very special,” the 25-year-old said after swimming a storming second leg in the 4x100m medley. “Ten is a lovely round number.”
Jones’s third gold of the week, and the 22nd in total from the pool, helped Australia to a dominant 54 gold medals. Hosts India and England look set for a gripping battle for second place on the medal table and they were tied on 24 at the end of day six.
Swimmer Jessicah Schipper added another gold to Australia’s haul with victory in the 200m butterfly, having waited all week for her event with the fear that she would fall victim to the “Delhi belly” stomach complaint.
“People have been dropping like flies in the village, it’s a bit worrying when your competition starts later than everyone else, so I’ve been eating a lot of cereals to be safe,” she said.
The Tongan rugby sevens team have not been so cautious.
“Food has been an issue in the village,” said team skipper John Cocker. “The first couple of days the boys all got into the food and put on a couple of kilogrammes.”
Nigerian table tennis player Ekundayo Nasiru pulled out of the men’s singles competition because of malaria, according to his doubles partner.
“He is very sick. He has not been able to eat for the last two days,” Monday Merotohun said, although there was no indication whether he had contracted the disease in Delhi.
The ticketing issue was just the latest in a string of problems to hit the $6-billion Games, which India had hoped would display its ability to run a world class event but instead has increasingly become an embarrassment to the nation.
Ticket fiasco
“We are receiving several reports people are going to ticket offices and being told there are no tickets available when there are empty seats in the venues,” Games Federation chief Michael Fennell told a morning news conference.
“We have been promised this morning that there will be a full investigation as something is not right with these ticket sales and the reports that we have been receiving.”
Organisers should be careful what they wish for, however, as no sooner had the crowds finally started to fill the empty seats than complaints began about partisan support.
Australia’s Anastasia Rodionova won the women’s tennis singles title by dealing not only with Mirza and the plague of Delhi moths but also with a crowd that put enthusiasm above etiquette.
“We have faced a lot of criticism due to partisan crowd. Something which has always been the case in a cricket match,” Karan, a security volunteer told Reuters.
“We are trying our level best to ensure there is no space for rowdies and those who spoil this sport.”
Bigger crowds were not the case at all venues, however.
“We’re really glad we came, but they haven’t treated the spectators well,” said Annette, a New Zealander at the lawn bowls. “There’s been more Games volunteers here than spectators. And army as well,” she added.
The army of more than 100 000 security personnel have been mobilised to prevent a repeat of the sort of militant attack that killed more than 160 people in Mumbai two years ago.
The withdrawal of athletes for scheduling reasons as well as security and health fears have left a seriously weakened athletics competition.
New Zealand shot putter Valerie Adam, one of the few Olympic and world champions in the field, needed just one throw of 20,47 metres to retain her title on Saturday night.
“Job done. That is what I wanted, to rip it up and throw big and win gold,” she said. “The standard in the Commonwealth is not that high so I didn’t want just to win, I wanted to set a good mark.”
Organisers will be hoping the improved attendances will continue into the seventh day of competition on Sunday and should be guaranteed at least one full house when the hosts play Pakistan at hockey. – Reuters