CHENNAI: Finally, the uncertainty over forming the new government in Tamil Nadu comes to an end on Saturday evening. However, this will have an impact elsewhere — at the Indian Athletics Series-6 to be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Outdoor Stadium on Sunday from 6am till 8.55pm.
The venue is next to the Indoor Stadium where the swearing-in ceremony of the new government led by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president C Joseph Vijay is set to take place on Sunday from 10 AM. Tamil Nadu Athletics Association’s (TNAA) general secretary C Latha said that they cannot afford to push the meet by another day, as athletes have already planned to return on Monday. With the swearing-in being held at 10am, quite a few events slotted before and during the morning half will have to be postponed. Some of the finals that are scheduled are 110m hurdles (five between 9.40am to 10.25am), discus throw women at 10.30am, two 100m hurdles final at 10.35 and 10.45 and the long jump women final is slotted at 11.30am before a one and a half hour break. If these events are rescheduled and the afternoon sessions begins late, the whole event will end more than two hours later than usual.
“Originally, the meet was set to conclude by around 9 pm and if the swearing-in ceremony takes place in an announced time, then events scheduled during that time period would be postponed,” she said. “Say, the swear-in starts from a certain time, we would then postpone events scheduled from that time to later at night.” With preparations in full swing, the road leading to both outdoor and the indoor stadium are expected to be blocked, owing to an expected crowd by TVK cadres and fans alike. One concern could be athletes’ entry. Usually, athletes enter the arena mostly before their events start across different parts of the day. “That is one of the reasons why we would postpone the events and try to finish within the same day,” she said.
