Wishing the best for Jamaica's team to Delhi

Mike Fennell's heart will flutter much over the next two weeks

Jamaica’s team  of athletes is on its way to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and its funny, but I am not thinking about how they will perform. No, at this point whether the track and field athletes will do well, whether the netballers will medal, whether the swimmers or the boxers will exceed expectations, is not at the forefront of my mind.

Over the past week or so Delhi and the Indian government have been embarrassed by a series of events that put the Games at risk. Among them were an outbreak of dengue, reports of an ‘uninhabitable’ athletes’ village, a collapsed bridge near the main venue, and a collapsed ceiling in the weightlifting facility. Not to mention the Taiwanese tourists that were killed by motorcycle riding terrorists. All of a sudden it feels as if we should be awarding our athletes with medals for just being getting back home alive and well.

These games will cost the Indian government approximately US$2.5 billion, and that tab could rise to as high as US$15 billion, but nobody will give a hoot if any of the athletes from the 71 participating countries such ever become critically ill or harmed as they represent their respective nations from October 3-14.

From Jamaica’s perspective, virtually none of our star athletes will be attending, primarily because of the timing of the Games. It’s the off-season after a very long track season and next year is a championship year so all of our biggest stars have opted to stay away. And its a good thing because the worry factor would have been so much greater. That’s not to say that we are not concerned about the athletes who will be representing us at these Games.

The beloved Sunshine Girls, our swimmers, boxers and emerging track stars will always be at the forefront of our minds while they compete just like the athletes from the other countries who many feel are putting their lives on the line just by being in Delhi.

Mike Fennell, the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, has to put on a brave face and show support for the Indians but even he was upset last week when everything seemed to be going wrong in Delhi. I suspect that his heart will flutter often over the next two weeks as the athletes arrive and try to settle in the village where last week human excrement was everywhere and stagnant water harboured dangerous disease, and as they try to stay alive and well for the duration of the Games.

We can only pray that everything goes well, for I fear it will be a very long two weeks for all the athletes from all the participating countries who are now on their way to India.