“I can’t fight against the government or AFI, but God and I know the truth”
India’s long-distance runner OP Jaisha, who fainted at the end of gruelling race at the just-concluded Rio Olympics, has alleged that she neither received water nor energy drinks at refreshments points from the country’s officials during her marathon event.
“I could have died there, it was very hot there. The competition was at 9 am, I ran in scorching heat. There was no water for us, neither recovery drinks nor food. Only once in 8km did we get water (from the Rio organisers) which did not help at all. All the country’s had their stalls at every 2km but our country’s stall was empty,” Jaisha who finished 89th in the competition with a timing of 2:47:19 told ANI.
“I only remember completing my race. I don’t remember what had happened after three hours of finishing the race. I was not able to open my eyes. My temperature was so high that I was put on ice and when I regained my consciousness I found out that bottles of glucose were injected in both my hands to help me recover,” said the 33-year-old Kerala-born athlete, who currently holds the national record in marathon.
“We are supposed to be given drinks by our technical officials, it’s the rule. We cannot take water from any other team,” she added.
AFI, on its part, said that Indian officials in Rio were not told by the athletes or their coaches about any specific requirements of any drinks.
“It is the responsibility of the organisers to provide water and energy drinks. For that there are water and energy stations throughout the course. We could have provided water and energy drinks to our athletes but neither they nor their coaches did not inform us that they would need water and energy drinks separately,” AFI secretary CK Valson told PTI.
Later, he told to NDTV that it is untrue that officials were missing. He said that Jaisha and her coach had refused the offer to have refreshment served at the counters that Indian officials could have manned, though he promised to investigate whether there was “negligence of any sort.”
“Why would I say such a huge lie, when I have never complained even once in my entire sports career? I can’t fight against the government or AFI, but God and I know the truth, and I owe that to sports,” Jaisha replied to Valson’s comments.
Social Media Updates:
#WATCH: Indian athlete OP Jaisha recalls her lonely #Rio2016 marathon run, says Tricolour was nowhere to be seenhttps://t.co/LASHfwhY7I
— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2016