In an incident that highlights the sad state of sports in India, almost 30 athletes were forced to travel on a train with only two confirmed tickets. Some of them were forced to sleep on the train floor, some even slept near the toilets while others had to stand for hours. The incident came to light after a video shot by Pradeep Atri, a discus thrower, went viral on Facebook.
According to reports, the athletes were from Delhi and were returning from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh after competing in the Junior National Athletics Championships that concluded on November 20.
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According to an Indian Express report, the athletes boarded the train at 9:30 PM on November 20 with only two confirmed tickets.
Atri, who was upset with the facilities provided by the Delhi Athletics Association, in the video showed how his fellow athletes were facing difficulties during the almost 30-hour journey from Vijayawada to Delhi.
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In the video, sprinter Shabnam Shokeen also shared her problems while crouching on the middle berth. She said,
It is a fact that not even once we’ve had confirmed seats during our Nationals.
About 120 athletes from Delhi took part in the four-day Championship event but most of them chose to make their own travel arrangements to avoid such humiliation.
Delhi Athletics Association secretary Sandeep Mehta, however, blamed the postponement of the event for the fiasco. The event, which was slated to start on November 10, was re-scheduled and pushed back to November 16.
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