“I could have died there,” said a distraught O.P. Jaisha as she recalled the women’s marathon event at the Rio Olympics during which she claimed she was not provided any water and energy drinks by the officials despite India being allotted designated stations.
“It was very hot. The competition was at 9 a.m., I ran in scorching heat. There was no water. Neither was there recovery drinks nor food. Only once in 8km did we get water (from the Rio organisers), which did not help at all. All the countries had their stalls every 2km but our country’s stall was empty,” said Jaisha, who finished 89th in the women’s marathon event with a below-par timing of 2:47:19s.
Jaisha had collapsed at the finish line after completing the marathon and had to be rushed to a hospital where her coach Nikolai Snesarev got into an altercation with one of the doctors and ended up being detained for half a day by the local police.
“We are supposed to be given drinks by our technical officials, it’s the rule. We cannot take water from any other team. I saw the Indian board there, but there was nothing. I fainted after the race. I thought I would die,” she recalled.
“My coach was very angry and ended up arguing with the doctors. The coach thought I was dead. He pushed the doctor to enter my room because he knew he would be held responsible if anything happened to me,” she added trying to clear the air on Snesarev’s actions.
“I don’t know what they were doing. There were several people in the Indian athletics contingent, anybody could have done this job,” Jaisha told Times Now. “I don’t know where they were. I was in very bad shape.
AFI, on its part, said the officials in Rio were not told by the athletes or their coaches about any specific requirement of any drinks.
“It is the responsibility of the organisers to provide water and energy drinks. For that there are water and energy stations throughout the course. We could have provided water and energy drinks to our athletes, but neither they nor their coaches informed us that they would need these separately,” AFI secretary C.K. Valson, who was also in Rio during the competitions, said. When asked about the incident, Sports Minsiter Vijay Goel said it was the Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) responsibility.
“Every time any incident happens, we take note. It was the AFI’s job, it is the federation which should have taken care of this,” he said.
The athlete on her part said she had no clue who to hold responsible for the fiasco.
Valson also said that 3000m steeplechase runner Sudha Singh had collected medicines from the Games Village polyclinic just a day before her departure from Rio.
“Jaisha was treated at the Games Village polyclinic after she fainted at the finish line of the marathon. Sudha Singh also complained just a day before her departure from Rio that she was not feeling well and also collected medicines from the polyclinic,” Valson said.
“But all these are minor illnesses and we have not been informed of any major or serious illness.
“Otherwise, how would have they returned home after a long journey without any problem,” asked the AFI secretary.
