BIRMINGHAM:
Olympic 100m and 200m champion Usain Bolt and Jamaica’s star-studded track and field team have been training under heavy security at the University of Birmingham since their arrival here just about a week ago.
Bolt, world 100m champion Yohan Blake and three-time Olympic gold medallist Veronica Campbell-Brown are among the big names already at the camp, but fans have been left frustrated by the behind-closed-doors training sessions.
“You are not allowed to take any photos around the school campus, it’s a private area,” a member of the university security team shouted as fans and a few journalists who tried to peep through the hedges which surround the 400m track.
A fan, who only gave his name as Pete, was very upset about the guarded track.
“This is our country, this is our Olympics,” he said. “We should be allowed here, not on the track, but certainly here to watch. I’m here to see Bolt, who I got a glimpse of, a tall guy, looking very swift.”
Jenna Hadley, Olympic Communications Officer at the University of Birmingham, said that media would be given a chance to take photos and interview the athletes on July 24 and not before that.
India wrestler upset over lack of physio
Meanwhile, one of India’s top medal prospects and team flag-bearer at the London Olympics, wrestler Sushil Kumar, is unhappy with arrangements after being left without a personal physio, said officials.
Kumar, a bronze-medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is upset that the squad is without a dedicated physiotherapist despite the prospect of multiple, bone-jarring bouts on the same day.
The Wrestling Federation of India Secretary-General Raj Singh said his organisation was trying its best to secure the trainer a place at the venues.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 21st, 2012.
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