Delhi 2010

If Anna Meares is now crowned in glory, she has earned every bit of it and by achieving her golds at the Commonwealth games , she has shown everyone that you just never give up. Never. A horrifying crash in a race in Los Angeles left her with a broken neck and in a wheelchair. To listen to and look at her and then see the incredibly stunning performances she has put in, you would never know. Ask her if the Commonwealth Games are relevant. Or Jeff Huegill. Didn't he do well ? He too has brought himself along a hard road back to the top. Had the organisers of the games been able to assure the world it was safe there in Delhi, then more people would be on site seeing these stunning performances from all the countries represented. They would watch and know for themselves that these athletes have fought hard and long to be at the top. This is no tin pot games. There are world record breakers, the world's best athletes in their fields and the events are just fantastic to watch. I don't usually watch the Commonwealth Games all the time like I do the Olympics. This year ,though ,the standard is superb and the events have been gripping. What is touching though are the stories behind the athletes. Our media team has been brilliant at talking us through the stories, the knowledge, the humanity of it all and then revelling in the excitement and the glory. The media team in New Delhi has made all of this worthwhile and exciting because they have made it real. The interviewers who have interviewed the gymnasts and swimmers have created very normal conversations so that the athletes can just chat away to us. Those interviewers have been very mindful of just how  sensitive the athletes might be at the end of an event and have chosen their conversations carefully. I must say our gymnasts have come such a long way. I used to get in there and support them because they were trying hard to be good. Now I can see they are world standard and just awesome. It is also clear there are a lot of normal Indians like you and me who have busted their boilers to make these games work and who are still working hard to get things right for the events and athletes. These hard workers and dedicated souls are there for us to see but we only hear of the administrative stuff ups . The media time is given to those who haven't got it right. The balance needs to be changed.