COMMONWEALTH GAMES:TWO OF England's biggest hopes, including the Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu, last night became the latest high-profile withdrawals from the Commonwealth Games after a day when the very future of the event in Delhi was thrown into doubt.
A third big name, the triple-jumper Phillips Idowu, looks set to pull out after becoming concerned about chaotic preparations for the event.
“Sorry people, but I have children to think about,” he said via Twitter. “My safety is more important to them than a medal.”
Idowu has two young children, a two-year-old daughter D’Karma and a son, Prince, who was born this year. To withdraw officially from the squad the world triple-jump champion will have to contact the team’s chef de mission, Craig Hunter, in Delhi today.
The withdrawals came on a day when strident criticism of the facilities from team representatives that have arrived in Delhi - including Scotland, New Zealand, England and Wales - and the collapse of a bridge near the stadium, causing 23 injuries, added to a growing sense of crisis.
Idowu appears to have made up his mind, despite those around him urging him to take 48 hours to consider his position, while Ohuruogu and the 1,500m hope Lisa Dobriskey pulled out due to niggling injuries they did not want to aggravate by competing. All three were due to defend their Commonwealth titles in Delhi.
The sports minister for England and Wales, Hugh Robertson, last night urged athletes to take part in what would be an “amazing spectacle” but team leaders warned that they would pull out entirely if concerns over the athletes’ village were not allayed by organisers.
The build up to the Delhi Commonwealth Games has lurched from tragedy to farce, with delays in construction added to concerns over dengue fever, monsoon rains, security fears and corruption. But yesterday’s flurry of criticism was the most serious yet for organisers who continued to claim that the 34 residential towers where the athletes will stay, only 18 of which are finished according to the Times of India, will be ready ahead of the opening ceremony.
Team leaders from England, Scotland, Wales, New Zealand, Australia and Canada expressed grave concerns about the towers intended to host 6,500 athletes during the Games, which run from October 3rd to 14th. Commonwealth Games Scotland said the accommodation it had been allocated was “unsafe and unfit for human habitation” and warned the event could be called off.
Commonwealth Games England, which has had representatives in Delhi for the past 10 days to prepare for the arrival of the athletes, said it remained “optimistic” they would still take part.
“However, there is a lot still to be done in the village and this needs to be done with some urgency so that it is ready for the arrival of our first athletes on Friday,” said a statement.
The Commonwealth Games Federation said it had written to India’s government to express “great concern”. Its president, Michael Fennell, said: “Many nations that have already sent their advance parties to set up within the village have made it abundantly clear that the village is seriously compromised.”
The withdrawals of Ohuruogu and Dobriskey due to injury were merely unfortunate timing.
Ohuruogu said she had decided to pull out rather than risk irritating an old injury to her left quadriceps that caused her to miss the end of the 2010 season.
Dobriskey was told to rest and concentrate on winter training in order to build up to the indoor season.
A string of athletes have already withdrawn from the Games including Jamaica's 100m Olympic champion, Usain Bolt, Kenya's Olympic 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop and the women's world 10,000m champion Linet Masai. GuardianService
