The 88-member contingent from India had left on Saturday night after receiving a grand send-off from the fans.
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The first batch of athletes from India’s Olympics contingent arrived in the Japanese capital of Tokyo on Sunday. The team finally cleared the exhaustive yet highly essential and necessary COVID safety protocols that were in place at the airport. However, there is still cause for massive concern, not just for the Indians but for everyone currently at the Games village. The 88-member contingent from India had left on Saturday night after receiving a grand send-off. The athletes were joined by the shooters and boxers who were training in Italy and Croatia till Saturday.
The group traveling from India included archers, badminton players, table tennis players, both the men’s and women’s hockey teams, and qualifiers from judo, gymnastics, and swimming among others. They had made the journey to Tokyo from New Delhi on a chartered Air India flight. “It was a six hour wait at the (Tokyo) airport where we underwent COVID-19 tests but that was expected. All came out clear and we have checked into the Games village. All smooth so far,” a contingent member told the news agency PTI.
Some Indian athletes reached the Japanese capital a few days earlier from their respective training bases abroad. India’s only weightlifter to participate at The Games, Mirabai Chanu reached Tokyo on Friday from her training base in St Louis, USA. Four Indian sailors, Nethra Kumanan and Vishnu Saravanan (laser class), KC Ganapathy, and Varun Thakkar (49er class) reached Tokyo before anyone else. They had departed from their training base in Europe and started training on Thursday. The rowing team has also reached the city.
However, it was not a relaxed atmosphere for the Indians when they entered the village. Two athletes have tested positive, and both were residing in the village. One more person, who was residing at a designated hotel has also tested positive for the virus, as confirmed by the organisers. However, the same organisers insisted that they were prepared for a few cases given the influx of people into the city due to The Games.
The Indian contingent was seen duly masked and following whatever COVID protocols that had been placed by both the Japanese government and the Olympics committee. However, the fear of getting infected will still be at the back of the athletes’ minds throughout their time in Japan.
The contingent left New Delhi on Saturday night and they were given a grand sendoff by sports minister Anurag Thakur. There were loud claps, cheers, and well wishes that came the athletes way as they set out to win the Olympic medals for the country and also to write their names in the history books. Even a red carpet was laid out for the athletes who were on their way.
The send-off ceremony was also attended by Minister of State for Sports, Nisith Pramanik, Sports Authority of India Director General Sandip Pradhan and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) officials, including President Narinder Batra and Secretary General Rajeev Mehta.
