JOIN USCWG ideal stage to make good impression: Coe
“Commonwealth Games is certainly not a side-show but the world’s third largest event. It’s a high-quality sporting competition with so much honour associated with it. I’m sure the Games will leave a long-lasting legacy that people would remember throughout their life,” Coe said.
“In a number of ways, winning a medal in CWG is quite tougher than winning medal in many events.
“To win a medal in sprint, 800M, 1500M or 5000M is not a child’s play.
“Many of the household names in sporting world today had make their first image in this tournament only. I’m sure that the people of Delhi would be watching the stars of tomorrow,” said Coe, who had won 1500M gold at the Olympic Games in 1980 (Moscow) and 1984 (Los Angeles).
The Englishman said Indians should now get ready to watch some spectacular performance by the athletes like Asafa Powell during the Delhi event.
The Indian hockey team’s former technical adviser and current Australia coach Ric Charlesworth on Thursday lambasted the Commonwealth Games organisers, calling them “crazy” and “disrespectful” for scheduling matches in the middle of the day.
“We will have to play in very hot weather with 16 players, it’s nuts and I find it extraordinary,” Charlesworth told the Australian Associated Press (AAP).
“My experience (of Delhi) has not been good, the grounds will be fine, but the problem is we will be playing in the middle of the day and that is unfair,” he said.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Rajiv Shukla came down heavily on critics of the Games, saying the multi-discipline event belonged to India and not to any individual.
A lot of people, including former Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, are staunch critics of the Games who believe that the country did not need the event and all the spending on it was a sheer waste of money.
“These are India’s Games not of Mani Shakar’s or Kalmadi’s. This is not the time for criticism or counter criticism. Only 60 days are left and now we all should work towards a successful conduct of the Games,” Shukla told reporters outside the Parliament. “The issues can be discussed after the Games,” he added.