Bengaluru, Aug 22: With no water to drink for 42 kilometres, Indian runner O.P Jaisha fainted after completing the marathon race at Rio Olympics 2016 on August 14.
O.P Jaisha's ending was not at all happy as she fainted on the track after completing the race. Apparently not a single Indian official who provided nothing, not even water to the Indian athlete.
Speaking to "The Times of India", Jaisha said: "Though there were officials from all other countries to provide refreshments to their runners at designated points after every 2.5 km, there was no one from India and our desks were empty next to the country's name and flag.
"I don't know how I managed to finish without getting enough water to drink. The organisers provided water and sponge only at 8-km intervals. The water from these stations lasted hardly 500m and it was almost impossible to run after the 30-km mark under the scorching sun.
"While other athletes had the luxury of taking glucose, honey etc there was nothing for us (Jaisha and Kavita) to drink at our stations. Not even water."
The Indian runner had to run 42 Kms without a drop of water which caused weakness due to dehydration and she fainted.
Jaisha further said: "While other athletes had the luxury of taking glucose, honey etc there was nothing for us (Jaisha and Kavita) to drink at our stations. Not even water.
"I was OK for the next few days. But now I'm feeling very weak and it will take at least 2-3 months of ayurvedic treatment and massage for my body to recover.
The Kerala runner also blamed his coach Nikolai Snesearev for her condition. She added: "I wanted to qualify in the 1500m (after the Mumbai marathon) but the coach forced me to continue in marathon.
"Even when I suffered an injury during the training period the coach didn't give me time to recover. Moreover, we always trained early in the morning, first in Ooty and later in Rio. So, it was tough to adjust to the heat here."
OneIndia News