Athletes prefer to stay back despite Athletics Federation of India's relaxation
CHENNAI: After what has been a busy few days, the Olympic-bound athletes at the NIS, Patiala got a taste of what life under lockdown will be like.
While the Janta Curfew has been declared only for one day, the rising number of COVID-19 cases suggest that more such days are ahead of us. With no competitions allowed until April 15, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has decided to let the athletes leave the camp to be with their families if needed.
Speaking to this daily, AFI high-performance director Volker Herrmann said that all athletes are in touch with their dear ones through phones and other means, and are free to leave if they want. "The number of cases has already crossed 300 in India. So we have told the athletes that they are free to leave to be with family. But if they are coming back, they will have to be in quarantine for 14 days. So far, no one has expressed an interest to go. They are keen to stay here. But there is another problem. The public transport here has been shut down. We have a lot of athletes from Tamil Nadu and Kerala here. It’s unfortunate that they can’t go to their hometown even if they wanted to," Herrmann said.
With close to 350 people, including workers, coaches and support staff living in the facility, AFI has also reduced the number of people delivering essential goods inside the facility. AFI had received complaints earlier about a lot of people entering and exiting the facility putting the entire camp at risk. That also is being strictly monitored. Measures such as dropping vegetable and other materials outside the gate are being followed.
While curfew was being followed on Sunday, the athletes will resume isolated training starting Monday. The javelin throwers are the only athletes quarantined so far and they also will be training separately. The rest of them will also do it batch by batch to make sure athletes don’t crowd around.
"We have purchased 30 litres of hand sanitizer and 15 litres of disinfectants. We are ordering more. We are cleaning the gyms and all the equipment to ensure maximum safety. We have also allotted them time slots to use the gym and to avoid crowding. The quarantined javelin throwers are using a different gym and even that is also being cleaned regularly."
Herrmann also said that these measures are being taken by long-distance runner Jinson Johnson and the racewalkers, who are at the SAI centre in Bengaluru.