Twenty-four hours before the opening ceremony, it looked as though Delhi had made a complete mess of the preparations for the Commonwealth Games. On Thursday, in front of 60,000 spectators, including chief guest President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, when the Commonwealth Games Federation president Michael Fennell declared, “Delhi, you have delivered a truly exceptional Games,” there was justifiable pride among Indians. Despite the shambolic build-up, the Organising Committee (OC) pulled it off in the end, overcoming seemingly insurmountable problems at the eleventh hour — such as repair work on the track at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on the eve of the athletics event — with generous support from the Central and State governments. Some of the venues, the Games Village, and the quality of food served came in for lavish praise from visiting athletes and officials. The transport department, after taking its time to warm up, functioned smoothly. The ‘Games lanes' operated without a hitch and Delhi's notorious traffic snarls seemed to be a figment of the imagination.
The tightest security ever experienced for a sports event in India might have caused some irritation among participants and spectators. But as Mr. Fennell pointed out, there could have been no compromise on this front. Defying predictions, the show went on with clockwork precision even when there were some organisational hiccups. But more than all this, what helped Indians put out of mind the chaos and tragi-comic mishaps witnessed during the run-up to the Games was the nation's unprecedented haul of 101 medals, including 38 gold. Ascent to the No. 2 spot, although a long way behind Australia (74 gold medals), was made possible mainly by the performance of the shooters (led by the versatile Gagan Narang), wrestlers, archers, and boxers. Saina Nehwal's hard-fought win in the badminton final was memorable and so too were the medals sweep in women's discus throw and the triumph of the Indian quartet in the women's 4x400 m relay. These were India's first gold medals in athletics since the legendary Milkha Singh won the 440-yard race in Cardiff in 1958. The major disappointment on the final day was India's debacle in the hockey final; perhaps the Australian stick wielders were keen to avenge the Test series loss suffered by Ricky Ponting's men at Bangalore the previous day. After the CWG success, the idea of bidding for the Olympics is likely to gain some traction. It would be unwise to rush into this venture without cleaning up the Indian Olympic Association and doing a cool appraisal of infrastructural and organisational capabilities and cost.

Hindu Editorial