PT Usha assures Olympic-bound athletes of best support in Paris

Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha on Friday assured the Olympic-bound athletes of the best possible support in Paris with sports-specific support staff available.

The support staff would be housed closer to the Games Village to be able to provide help without wastage of time.

After returning from Paris with the arrangements finalized for the Indian athletes and support staff, Usha expressed her satisfaction with all the arrangements.

" We have been able to secure accommodation for several sports-specific support staff a short distance away from the Athletes' Village. We want to ensure no athletes are devoid of their support system and hence we have booked apartments in the vicinity," said PT Usha in the latest press statement released by IOA.

"We have ensured that our shooters and golfers stay close to their respective venues," the statement read further.

The IOA press release also elaborated on the need for a robust support system.

"As an athlete and coach myself, I have seen the evolution of the support system for our athletes. They have become very professional in their approach to training and competition. I believe we must ensure that (they) have similar, if not better, support during the Olympic Games. It is for this reason that we will have apartments for the support staff," she said.

She also said that the support team would be under the control of Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala, a leading sports medicine and orthopedic expert in the country.

The IOA delegation had also visited the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne.