Early Times Report
NEW DELHI, July 6: The athletics contingent will jet off to Poland, the boxers would head to Ireland, while the weightlifters have already flown to Birmingham. The Glasgow Commonwealth Games might have been scaled down by the organisers but India is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a strong show.
The Games are scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 2 and will feature only 10 disciplines for the able-bodied and six for para-athletes.
To save cost, the city would have the entire event play out in an eight-mile (12.8km) radius. It is expected to feature 3,000 athletes from 74 nations with India's athlete contingent being 126-strong. The first to enter the Games Village would be the gymnasts on July 20 followed by boxers, and swimmers the next day.
PTI takes a look at the training plans of the Indian contingent heading into the big event that will yield a significantly lower medal count than last edition's 61, including 22 gold, that also fetched the country a fairly good fourth-place finish in Birmingham.
All the tours have been sanctioned by the Sports Ministry's Annual Competition and Training Calendar (ACTC) fund and its flagship Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).
Athletics:
It would form the biggest chunk of 32 in the overall contingent size. The group, which will feature stars such as decorated javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, sprinter Gurindervir Singh, long distance runner Gulveer Singh and steeplechaser Parul Chaudhary among others, will head to Poland's Spala Olympic Training Centre in the next few days.
They will be based there before reaching Glasgow on July 25. They will be accompanied by a support staff of 14. |
