* Aussie Jones dominates in pool, nears record
* Unused tickets dumped
* Organisers say they are ‘fully competent’
NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Bags of unused tickets had to be carted off to the dump yesterday, while organisers owned up to a major communications blunder as the Commonwealth Games remained beset by problems at the halfway stage.
Tales of organisational woe again overshadowed the sporting action, despite the excellence of Australian woman swimmer Leisel Jones.
Crowds in many venues remained sparse on Friday while several athletes complained of sickness and media continued to voice concerns about transport and communication.
Despite those problems, organisers took time out to say they were “fully competent” to run the 71-nation jamboree, which had a great sporting story on its hands as it reached its halfway point.
If these Games are not remembered for a string of organisational foul-ups, they may be recalled for the brilliance of Jones, who claimed her ninth title in three editions of the event.
Jones claimed her ninth Commonwealth Games title in three editions of the event yesterday with a commanding victory in the 100m breaststroke.
That leaves Jones, 25, who hails from Katherine in the Northern Territory, a town of under 6,000 citizens, one more gold away from a share of the all-time record.
Jones’s commanding victory in the 100m breaststroke put her one win short of joining fellow Australian swimmers Ian Thorpe and Susie O’Neill as the most successful athletes in the 80-year history of the Games.
“It would be nice to be up there with those sorts of names … a real honour,” said Jones, who will swim in the 4×100 medley on Saturday.
Now that the 12-day event has reached its halfway point, it is hard to argue that the much publicised snags are just teething problems for a $6 billion event which was supposed to showcase India’s growing political and economic muscle and efficiency.
“(We are) definitely fully competent,” Lalit Bhanot, secretary-general of the local organising committee nevertheless told a news conference.
“There are issues, as in every Games. Everything has been resolved so far. Things are going well … it’s all okay.”
While their organisers have looked increasingly beleaguered, Indian sportsmen and women have largely excelled in competitive action, albeit in front of often sparsely populated arenas.
Yesterday, they picked up more gold medals on the shooting and archery ranges as well as on the wrestling mat to take their tally to 20, enough for second place behind Australia (47) on the medal table.
“What will history remember? The medal winners. What will matter for us in the next Olympics? How many medals we win. So overall we have reasons to be happy,” said N. Bhaskara Rao of the Centre for Media Studies, a Delhi-based think tank.
AUSTRALIAN SUCCESS
Cameron Meyer won his third gold medal of the Games in the men’s scratch race to bring to a close a track cycling meeting dominated by Australians, who won 12 of the 14 titles on offer.
Elsewhere, though, several Games competitors were again in no condition to show their stomach for the fray as “Delhi Belly” complaints continued to confirm that stayaways had good reason to be concerned about their health. Australia’s Andrew Lauterstein, the favourite for the 100m butterfly, was one of two swimmers forced to pull out of the morning heats through illness.
That left the way clear for Geoff Huegill, who has shed 45kgs since coming out of retirement, to cap his comeback by reclaiming the title he first won 12 years ago in Kuala Lumpur.
“It just goes to show that there is still hope for all the old buggers out there,” said the 31-year-old Australian. “It’s awesome to be back.” Kenyan middle and long distance runners are among the few top athletes in a competition seriously weakened by the absence of leading names such as Jamaica’s double Olympic men‘s sprint champion Usain Bolt.
Olympic champion Nancy Langat duly delivered in the women’s 1,500m and Grace Momanyi led Doris Changeywo to a one-two in the 10,000 metres in front of 30,000 fans at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Friday night.
Jamaica’s Tricia Smith battled with the local insects before winning the long jump.
“I had one legal jump and that’s all it takes,” she said. “A lot of flies and bugs got into my eyes and I had to stop to take them out.”
Where there were fans some of the behaviour caused problems, England’s archery team complaining that unsportsmanlike behaviour from the crowd had contributed to their defeat to the hosts.
Games officials conceded a “major communication blunder” was to blame for Thursday’s athletics farce, when Australian Sally Pearson was on her way to collect her 100m gold medal only to be called back and disqualified for a false start.
“Treatment of the athletes was unsatisfactory and we have alerted all the other sports as well to ensure that a similar incident does not occur,” said Games Federation chief Mike Fennell.
There was some good news for organisers after a late dash to get special permission to allow helicopters with television cameras to fly over some of the city’s restricted areas to cover cycling road race and marathon events was granted yesterday.
The last night of the swimming competition is the highlight of the seventh day of the Games, which close on Oct. 14.
