AHMEDABAD: It all happened in 100 days. The National Games that have seen postponements and cancellations due to infrastructural limitations in the past are finally happening at venues which were not originally built for the Games.
The 36th edition of the National Games, which will be officially called open on Thursday, have already become a case study for future hosts. "We could manage to do everything in 100 days," said Gujarat sports minister Harsh Sanghvi.
"We wrote to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) of our wish to host the Games in Gujarat in September and we were asked if it was possible. We invited the IOA members and gave our plan, which they accepted," Sanghvi added.
While Goa couldn't host the Games due to various reasons, availability of venues being one, Gujarat banked on available resources than going for new ones.
For the first time, the hosts of the National Games have not built even a single venue for the sport. For instance, Mahatma Mandir, a venue that hosts wrestling, weightlifting, boxing, judo and fencing, is an exhibition ground which has been turned into a sporting venue for the National Games.
The Sabarmati Riverfront has been turned into a venue for key events like athletics and squash.
Another highlight of this edition of the National Games is the multi-city module adopted by the hosts. "We wanted to use the existing venues for sports and spreading the Games to different cities not just made it more feasible for us, but also helped us broad-base the reach of the event," Sanghvi added. Other than doing away with the traditional concept of building the Games Village, the hosts have accommodated 7000-plus athletes in hotels around the venues.
"Normally, the host spends a lot in buying the equipment to conduct various events. This time, all expensive equipment have been borrowed from various sports units across the country," a source told TOI. Gujarat has procured shooting targets from the Sports Authority of India, while the canoeing equipment have come from Madhya Pradesh. The rowing events will see equipment from the Army and the fencing kits have come from Sanskardham Academy in Ahmedabad.
