The wind speed at training: officials travel to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic Games

Tokyo will host the Olympics in 2020. (Source: AP)

At the London 2012 Olympics, hopes of the Deepika Kumari archer to win a medal were blown away by gusts of wind through the Lord. Four years later in Rio, shooter Jitu Rai, who was unable to adapt to the sudden change in the weather, failed to qualify for the final of his event. And three months ago at the Commonwealth Games, the gymnasts highlighted the minor difference in the quality of the carpet that impacted their landing.

To avoid such surprises at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, a multi-agency delegation of sports administrators led by officials of the Sports Authority of India (ISC), she will visit the Japanese capital next week where she will be able to visit sites and check the facilities that can be provided to Indian athletes in terms of food and stay.

We expect to note even the smallest details that can have an impact on the performance of Indian athletes – measure the speed of the wind, note the colors on the sites and map the distance between the sites and their accommodation respective. This information will be pbaded on to athletes and their coaches, which will help them recreate similar parameters during their training sessions.

The team will also explore the possibility of creating a "House of India" in Tokyo in collaboration with Association (IOA), said the director general of the ISC, Neelam Kapur. The purpose of the House of India is to welcome the support staff and to establish a kitchen where food will be prepared according to the taste and the requirement of the athletes.

Before the 2016 Olympic Games, some athletes had tried to replicate similar conditions in Rio. their training centers in India. Abhinav Bindra, for example, recreated the firing range on the shooting range at his home in Chandigarh and the archers raised the level of the platform to the same height as the Olympic site, with the exception of the colour.

The first time, Kapur claimed, a holistic view was taken in terms of preparations. "We noticed that these little things had a lot of importance in the past, so in the Tokyo perspective, what can we do to make our athletes comfortable, so we'll see what they need in terms of training and other facilities, "Kapur told The Indian Express." All major nations follow this method. We may not be the first to do it, but it's the first time we've taken this healthy approach.

The delegation was also tasked to identify sites where Indian athletes can train next year exactly during the Games to acclimatize. The IOA is liaising with the organizing committee to verify the availability of sites for the exhibition camps next year.

The delegation will also meet officials from the National Training Center and the Council of Japan sports, outside the universities, to rent their premises. "We are going to book our training places right now because there will be a lot of things that will be specific to Tokyo," Kapur said.

She said that only athletes supported under the Olympic Target Program (TOPS) will be extended. establishment. At present, 188 athletes receive special TOPS funding, but this number is expected to decrease significantly after the Asian Games next month.

The Indian diaspora will also be called upon to help athletes in Tokyo. "We will talk to local Indian families to see if there is an opportunity to provide bed and breakfast facilities when they go there to train. In this way, athletes can have Indian food cooked at home as well as someone to talk to in their own language, instead of staying alone in hotels, "she said.

Not-for-profit organizations such as Olympic Gold Quest, JSW Sports and Go Sports Foundation are likely to join the SAI officials for the visit. "They also take care of some of the best athletes, so it's important that all stakeholders are on the same wave length," she said.

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