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Gurvinder Singh
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, August 24
OP Jaisha said that she had no idea whether or not her Russian coach Nikolai Snesarev refused the Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) offer to provide her with refreshments during the marathon at the Rio Olympics. However, Jaisha, who had collapsed after finishing the race due the severe dehydration, said that water should have been there, irrespective of what her coach had told AFI officials.
“It was so hot in Rio. It confounds me why water was not arranged in such hot conditions. I found out that there was no water only when I reached the designated station,” Jaisha, who is currently in Bengaluru, told The Tribune.
She added that she had not yet spoken with her coach about whether or not he refused AFI’s offer for water.
Meanwhile, her husband Gurmeet Singh termed AFI’s claims as sheer lies. “AFI is just trying to put the blame on Jaisha and her coach. Why would a runner refuse to have water or refreshment during a 42-km-long race in hot weather,” said Singh, who is an athletics coach at the Punjab Agricultural University here.
He said that even if it were to be assumed that an athlete or coach refused refreshments, it was irresponsible of AFI to not make the arrangements as it was the Olympics. “Isn’t it their duty to make sure that water and refreshments are available,” he said.
Rather than wrongly blaming her, AFI should have accepted its carelessness and mistake, he said. “She put her life on the line to finish the race despite such harsh conditions. Rather than saluting her effort, AFI is making excuses,” he said.
“Though she is jeopardising her career by speaking out, it is the right thing to do; she is highlighting the attitude of our federations to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen in the future,” he said.
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