Kavita Raut claimed to have received an ample supply of water whenever she crossed the designated stations. Kavita Raut claimed to have received an ample supply of water whenever she crossed the designated stations.

The second Indian competing in the women’s marathon at the Rio Olympics, Kavita Raut, has said she did not face any problem regarding water during the event last week. OP Jaisha, who finished 89th, accused the Indian officials of being ‘absent’ at the designated table where water and refreshments were to be supplied to the runners, insisting it added to her discomfort that ultimately led to her falling unconcious on the finish line.

Raut, however, said the organisers provided enough water along the 42.135km course. She added the athletes were summoned for a brief meeting with the Atletics Federation of India (AFI) officials, including its secretary CK Valson on the eve of the race. Jaisha, however, was not present at the meeting. Raut said she was asked if she would like a customised drink during the race, which she declined, considering that there were water stations present.

“At the meeting we discussed the schedule for the following day. They also showed me some specialised bottles and asked me if I wanted any personal drink in them. I declined because I’ve never used them before, so I didn’t accept them this time around as well. I told them that I’ll pick up water from the organisers’ stall,” Raut told The Indian Express.

Raut further claimed to have received an ample supply of water whenever she crossed the designated stations. “I got enough water when I reached the stalls. I was running around 2 km behind Jaisha, so I’m sure the ones in front would have got enough water as well,” she added. The 31-year-old finished 120th with a timing of 2:59:29 hrs, 12:19 minutes behind her 33-year-old compatriot who ranked 89th out of the 157 participants in the race.

Since Jaisha and her coach Nikolai Snesarev were not present at the meeting, Raut said she was unsure if the AFI’s message was communicated to her teammate. Nonetheless, she asserted that given Snesarev’s experience, the coach-runner duo might have been aware of the procedure. “I’m assuming her coach would have known since he’s been at many World Championship marathon events. Even if Jaisha didn’t know, her coach would have been aware from experience. This was my first event of this magnitude, so I didn’t know. The federation asked me a day ahead, so I’m guessing they would have asked them too,” she added.

Raut, however, was critical of the conditions. She said the marathon started at 9:30 am local time, under steadily rising temperature. Given the conditions, in hindsight the current 10 km road event national record holder mentioned how it would have been wise to take up the offer of using specialised drinks instead of solely relying on the water from the organisers’ booth.

“At the South Asian Games in Guwahati, the conditions were good and I needed water only once I crossed 25 km. But here it was hot. I didn’t think I’d need an extra drink. So I’m just happy I managed to finish the race,” she said.

After the marathon, Raut inquired about Jaisha’s whereabouts and soon found Jaisha at the medical station.

“She was unconscious and had been laid down on ice. I was with her the whole time, from the ambulance journey to hospital, till when she finally got discharged at around 8:30 at night,” Raut added.

Now, Jaisha puts the blame on coach Nikolai

OP Jaisha, who claimed she did not get enough water during the marathon at the Olympic Games because of the apathy of Indian officials, has changed her stand. Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi reported on Wednesday that Jaisha said that the Athletics Federation of India officials had asked her coach Nikolai Snaserev whether she would require personal drinks during the race, to which he said ‘no’.

In effect, Jaisha has put the blame on the coach after initially stating that the country booth of India was left unmanned and hence she did not drink enough water during the marathon.

Jaisha said that she would not train under Belarus-born Snaserev henceforth and would also quit the marathon and instead focus on the 1,500 metres. Jaisha, Mathrubhumi reported, also said that she would not retire because of the controversy following her comments.

Incidentally, Jaisha was not keen to run the marathon but had failed to qualify in both the 1,500 and the 5,000, races she preferred to run. After coach Nikolai had insisted that she focusses on the marathon after she had qualified for the event, Jaisha had even threatened to walk out of the camp on more than one occasion.

Jaisha, who finished 89th, had said that she suffered because of the lack of water. “Only once in 8km did we get water which did not help at all. All the countries had their stalls at every 2km but our country’s stall was empty,” she was quoted as saying by PTI. Jaisha had to be taken to hospital after finishing the race. “We are supposed to be given drinks by our technical officials, it’s the rule. I saw the Indian board there but there was nothing,” she had said.-ENS

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