Paris Olympics: Neeraj Chopra's fitness speculation laid to rest

NEW DELHI: All of the Indian competitors competing in the Paris Olympics, including star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, were deemed "fit enough" by renowned sports medicine specialist Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala on Sunday to take the stage when the quadrennial spectacle begins on July 26.
The chief medical officer (CMO) of India's nearly 120-person delegation to the Olympics in Paris, Pardiwala, also stated that his 13-person team will provide the best medical care possible to the delegation in the areas of sports nutrition, injury management, mental health, sports massage, recuperation, and sleep.
"All the athletes that are going for the Olympics are fit right now. Some athletes will have minor niggles here and there. I am not going to be discussing any specific injuries to any athlete that they've had in the past, but all of them who are there are there because they are going to be capable and they're gonna be fit enough to perform," he said, as per PTI.
Some of the best athletes have received care from Pardiwala, including weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, the silver medallist at the Tokyo Games, and Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who sustained severe injuries in an automobile accident.
A group of world-class medical professionals, led by Pardiwala, have been assembled by the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Ministry, and the Sports Authority of India to provide the optimum rest and recuperation conditions for the athletes as they strive to surpass the seven-medal haul at the Tokyo Olympics.
"This is the first time the Indian athletes will have a recovery room and a preparational rehabilitation room to make them game ready," said Pardiwala.
Previously, participants needed to visit a shared polyclinic with almost 10,000 other competitors to receive physiotherapy and recuperation treatments, and scheduling appointments took time. However, the 13-person medical staff will handle those matters as well this time around, allowing the competitors to "not waste time" worrying about rest and recuperation and instead concentrate solely on their competitions.
"It will be open 24x7. We've also got a sleep therapist on board because, over the years, one of the concerns has been inadequate sleep for rest and recovery. Time zones are different, the pressures and anxiety is there. So, to ensure athletes don't land up with inadequate sleep, we've got a sleep therapist on board who will address all these concerns," he said.
"We've already started sleep therapy sessions and we are also going to have some sleep pods for helping our athletes on the sleep aspect," he said.
Numerous players possess personal physiotherapists, mental coaches, and nutritionists. Pardiwala stated that his team has already made arrangements with those who are unable to bring their support personnel to Paris and will assist them to the fullest extent feasible.
"Ever since the sports science team was announced, the first thing we have done is start knowing our athletes in three different aspects -- sports medicine, sports nutrition and mental conditioning. We have visited national camps, competitions etc to know their needs better."
There is real concern for the athletes' relaxation and recuperation because warm weather is predicted for the Games and the Paris Olympics do not provide air conditioning in the athletes' village.
Pardiwala said, "Yes, there is not going to be air-conditioning per se supplied by the organisers in the Village. Their main issue is they want it to be a green Olympics, and if we want it to be green Olympics, then we don't want air-conditioning to be there because that is not environmentally friendly.
"Several contingents have said 'our athletes are used to temperature-controlled environments'. They (Paris organisers) have a sort of geo-thermal system where there will be a temperature within the Village of at least 5-7 degrees less than the ambient temperature. And the expected temperature in Paris is supposed to be between 18 and 26 degrees C. If ambient temperature is 5-6 degrees less, I think it's going to be quite Ok," he reasoned.