Gazeta Lodz - India hopes 'unique idea' will save athletes from cabin fever

Nagoya and Aichi will stage the Games from September 19 to October 4 but in a bid to cut costs there will not be an athletes' village.

Instead, the more than 17,000 athletes and officials -- a bigger number than the Olympics -- will stay on a cruise ship and in hotels.

There is a third type of accommodation: temporary units mostly made of wood and expected to be home to about 2,000 participants.

To prepare its competitors, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Friday unveiled similar lodgings at athlete headquarters in Patiala and Bengaluru.

Indian competitors will spend a night or two in them to get used to what lies ahead.

"These containers are like a simulator," Vineet Kumar, deputy director general of the SAI, told AFP in Patiala.

He added: "It is a unique concept as never in an Asian Games or Olympics this kind of accommodation was used.

"So specifically we created this to make sure that our athletes don't feel the shock and get claustrophobic when they are given such accommodation in Japan."

The Indian containers are about 40 feet (12 metres) long and eight feet wide.

They are equipped with four beds, two air conditioners, a fridge, storage tables, toilet, washroom and washing machine.

Images of the cabins in Japan show they have similar amenities.

The SAI, which arranged for journalists to visit the two cabins in Patiala and speak to athletes, says a roster has been prepared for Indian competitors to stay in the containers before flying to Japan.

"A player's psychology is so strong that if there is any problem in such logistics then their level of competition gets affected and we took care of this," Kumar said while giving a tour.

"All the athletes have enjoyed their stay and it was like a miracle to them to stay in it."

Kumar, who credited India's Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya with the "unique idea", said the accommodation was as close as possible to what athletes would experience in Japan.

- Getting used to it -

Two-time Asian Games shot put champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor is one of the athletes to experience the accommodation in Patiala.

Standing 1.92 metres tall, Toor sat on the bed and moved around the unit to show how he fits his sizeable frame into it.

"It was awkward initially, but after having spent a night I got comfortable because they have equipped it with everything that I need," Toor told AFP.

"Even the rooms in Tokyo and Paris (Olympics) were not that big. This of course is like a cubicle, but it's fine."

Discus thrower Seema Kaliramna said that adjusting in any situation is part of being an elite athlete.

"I thought it would be claustrophobic in here but after spending some time I got used to it," Kaliramna, who won bronze at the recent Commonwealth Games, said.

Q.Szulc--GL