Athletes quit Commonwealth Games

NEW DELHI – Big ticket athletes have pulled out of the Commonwealth Games, Scotland has delayed its departure to New Delhi and the New Zealand swimming team is seeking a ‘Plan B’ should India’s showcase event be cancelled.

Triple Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica is the highest profile athlete to skip the event. World discus champion Dani Samuels of Australia pulled out of the Games because of security and health concerns, as did England’s world triple jump champion Phillips Idowu.Four other champions have quit due to various reasons, including injuries, in the last 24 hours.’Sorry people, but I have children to think about. My safety is more important to them than a medal,’ Idowu wrote on his Twitter feed.India had hoped to use the Games, held every four years for members of the former British Empire, as a display of its growing global economic and political clout rivaling China.Instead, the Games have already descended into farce with some countries giving an ultimatum of a few days to get the Games ready or face the prospect of national withdrawals from an event which is so far only showcasing Indian traveler-tale cliches of filth, chaos and corruption.Wales team chiefs said they had given organisers until later on Wednesday to guarantee that the venues and athletes’ village are safe before they make a decision on what to do next.Thousands of athletes from around the world are due to start arriving this week, with the Games due to start on October 3.A portion of false ceiling in the weightlifting venue caved in yesterday, a day after the collapse of a footbridge by the main stadium, injuring 27 workers, which highlighted problems facing organizers as they race to complete work.Nobody was injured at the weightlifting venue.Commonwealth Games Federation president Michael Fennell said on Tuesday the two-week event was seriously compromised by filthy conditions that have shocked delegations.’There have been dogs roaming around the village, the apartments are filthy, there are piles of rubble and right now it’s not fit to receive 6 500 athletes and officials,’ Michael Cavanagh, chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland, told the BBC.’National Shame’ was the headline of one Indian newspaper.New Zealand’s swimming team left yesterday for Abu Dhabi, with an official saying another competition was in the pipeline if the Games are cancelled. Australian and Canadian squads are in Singapore and the British in Doha, suggesting another Asian meet could be hastily organised.There have been reports of stray dogs, stagnant water, workers urinating in public, and human faeces being found at the unfinished village where the athletes will live.Stagnant pools of water, breeding grounds for dengue mosquitoes, lie around and a Reuters reporter said homeless people were living outside the main stadium.Indian government officials say the problems, including the roof collapse yesterday, are mostly minor glitches and the Games will be a success.But criticism is mounting even within India, where the country’s leadership is seen as out-of-touch and having failed to understand what is expected of a nation like India, which is not short of funds nor skilled labor to host a major sporting event. – Nampa-Reuters