Tokyo: The Indian contingent at the Tokyo Olympics has requested the Indian Embassy for more than 100 electric kettles to meet the athletes’ requirements of warm water. Meanwhile, the Indians looked heavily satisfied with the food and facilities at the Village. Around 88 athletes and support staff arrived in Tokyo on Sunday.
“The request for the kettle has come from the athletes. They need to drink warm water in the morning. We have requested the Indian Embassy here and it should be arranged soon,” India’s Deputy Chef de Mission Prem Verma told PTI on Monday.
It was also intimidated that the rooms of the athletes will be cleaned every third day so as to minimize their contact with the housekeeping staff. After the Indian athletes arrived at the Village on Sunday, no cleaning has been done, according to an official.
This is spectacular 😍🔥
All geared up for our first session at the Olympic match arena😁#tokyometropolitangymnasium #sathiyantt #tabletennis #sports #tokyo #olympics pic.twitter.com/UnOvrtkIEW— Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (@sathiyantt) July 19, 2021
“To minimise contact, Local Organising Committee has advised for cleaning every third day but if someone wants to get the room cleaned daily, they can ask for it. The towels can be change from the ground floor on a daily basis,” Verma added.
As far as the foods are concerned, the athletes are being served food from all around the world including India. Indian paddler G Sathiyan stated the food and the training arrangements are top class but an official suggested the ‘desi’ food can be a lot better.
“It has been smooth for us. No complaints at all. I had daal and parotta yesterday and it was fine,” Sathiyan said. However, the team official added: “I would advise the athletes to go for continental or Japanese food. The Indian food at best is average and at times undercooked.
Breakfast time..#TokyoOlympics2020 #Cheer4India pic.twitter.com/UVXx75qUmh
— M C Mary Kom OLY (@MangteC) July 19, 2021
“You rather have the local food. It is much better and the sea food being served is very fresh.” Meanwhile, Verma urged everyone in the contingent to embrace the Japanese culture and should not compare the food with that back home.
“When you come to another country, you should embrace its culture including food. There is nothing wrong with the Indian food being served in the dining hall but one should not compare with what we get back home. There is a lot of variety. The dining area covers two floors and proper social distancing is being followed with fibre glass separating the seats,” he added.
Meanwhile, the athletes were given testing kits daily so that they can hand over their swab samples to the IOA officials before leaving for training.
