Amid the row, the Games blitzkrieg

Cornered by one controversy after another, the Commonwealth Games organisers plan to finally turn around and start on something they should have begun long back, getting Delhiites excited about the sporting event. HT reports

Cornered by one controversy after another, the Commonwealth Games organisers plan to finally turn around and start on something they should have begun long back, getting Delhiites excited about the sporting event.

HT Image

So, on August 14, in a countdown to 50 days to the Games, the organisers will launch what they have named the “Go for Gold” campaign, taking the brand Games ambassador athletes to your neighbourhood.

Olympic and world 10m air rifle champion Abhinav Bindra, world no. 2 badminton player Saina Nehwal, the athlete of the 2006 Commonwealth Games Samaresh Jung, Olympic bronze medallist boxer Vijender Kumar, Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar and four time world boxing champion M C Mary Kom will come to your areas and seek your support for the Games.

The athletes have already confirmed their presence. The evening will see the star attraction music composer A R Rahman giving Delhiites a sneak preview of the Commonwealth Games Delhi Anthem, which he had been contracted to compose.

Sources said the programme received the final nod from OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi on Tuesday.

The “Go for Gold” campaign is also the OC’s effort at hitting Delhiites with a media blitzkrieg on the patriotic fervour of the Games, countering the negative publicity the event has received in both India and abroad over charges of corruption, favouritism, etc.

“We want to remind the people that end of the day the Games are not about anything else but about the athletes. So Delhiites should cheer for the athletes and for sports,” said a senior OC official.

Residents associations are being contacted about their participation in the floats. The organisers will also throw in a few athletics based, on the spot competitions with prizes to be won.

Premium Brands, the leading Games merchandising partner, will be sponsoring the whole show with material and logistics, sources said.

The whole day activity, accompanied by thousands of Games volunteers in official attire, will be divided in two floats covering all the seven Parliamentary constituencies of Delhi, sources said.

Attention has been given to go to interior and far flung areas from Peeragarhi, Jwala Heri, Morris Nagar, Shakti Nagar, Okhla, to Darya Ganj, Janak Puri, Dwarka, etc, away from various Games projects and where the buzz of the Games has not yet reached.