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AAP
AAP
Steve Larkin

Aussies urge Olympic organisers to fix transport issues

Australian athletes have been sent to wrong stadiums and missed recovery sessions because of transport bungles at the Paris Olympics.

Australia's team hierarchy are demanding organisers of the Paris Games fix the problems which have marred the preparation of some athletes.

Australia's men's hockey team were taken to a rugby stadium while swimmers have been sitting on floors of overcrowded buses transporting them to the pool.

"There are not enough services provided so more athletes are filling the bus in conditions that could potentially get hot - not good," Australia's chef de mission Anna Meares told reporters on Thursday.

"So we're really pressing for the Paris Organising Committee to find a resolution.

"The good thing is everything that we have raised with them so far, they've been very quick to act."

Meares said delays in transport had caused some Australians to miss pre-booked post-training rehabilitation sessions.

"This is an issue affecting all nations and it is less than ideal," she said.

"It has disrupted the schedules of the athletes and, for example, they've been delayed in their return back to the village, missing physio and recovery time allotments.

"The performance environment of our athletes is absolutely critical so the quicker we can find some resolution to the transport issues, the better.

"Our hockey team unfortunately was taken to the rugby stadium.

"That was as a result of the bus parking in the wrong bay - the rugby bus parked in the hockey bay.

"These are just some small teething issues obviously quite frustrating to the athletes.

"It's now just making sure that the bus services meet the demand of the number of athletes that are needing to get to the stadiums."

Meares, a four-time Olympic cyclist, said transport problems were typical early at any Games.

"Olympic Games are a big undertaking ... it's enormous," she said.

"So the teething that happens early on is normal. And the process too  being followed in order to find resolutions is normal as well."

Australian swimmers Zac Stubblety-Cook and Bronte Campbell said they had both experienced frustrations with the transport system, but were pragmatic.

"You hold an event like this, you're expected to have some kinks," said Stubblety-Cook, the reigning Olympic 200m breaststroke champion.

"The village has only been open a week and a lot of the bus routes have only been open a few days.

"They are getting more and more bus drivers and they are new to those routes.

"Yes, there some kinks with transport but I think they will be ironed out."

Campbell, at her fourth Olympics, said such issues were part and parcel of any Games.

"This is what it's like at an Olympic Games," she said.

"There's 16,000 athletes in this village and they have all got somewhere to be, especially at the beginning, because this is when you figure out who is going to cope with it and who is not."



 

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