Indian Contingent at Rio Has Multiple Challenges to Tackle

If you thought Olympic athletes prepare themselves for just the on-field competition, think again. While a battery of officials are usually deployed to take care of the athletes, the overall challenges for the entire contingent begin from the time they land in the host country. Every venue comes with its own set of challenges.

Rakesh Gupta, The Chef de Mission of the Indian contingent has admitted that the contingent has already begun to tackle problems.

"We have faced some problems in transport, particularly the drivers who have language issues, and they don't know the routes very well. The biggest issue we are facing now is the language problem. The volunteers that are engaged, belong to schools and colleges. But the holidays only start from 1st (of August), so there is a shortage of volunteers. They are hoping more volunteers will be available, especially English speaking volunteers, after the 1st (of August)."

One very important facet that every Organising Committee of every major international sporting event has to take care of is the food. While popular world cuisine might be fine for some athletes, many participants would want their own kind of food. It is not a surprise then that the Indian officials have been trying to get the kind of food that the Indian athletes would like for over a year.

The Chef de Mission said, "I have been regularly emailing the Organising Committee (Of the Rio Olympics) for the past one year, requesting them to provide Indian vegetarian food. I am very happy that they are offering vegetarian food for us in every meal. Everyday, there is a dish of daal. For breakfast and dinner, there are two vegetable dishes. There was aloo gobhi on Friday. So, both the athletes and we are happy that at least we are getting something good to eat."

It's the biggest sporting stage of them all and not surprisingly the logistics that need to be worked out are also mammoth. Settling down quickly will be key for not just the Indian contingent, but every other team that has travelled to Brazil.