Delhi velodrome track badly damaged during post-Games work

There is an element of ‘as it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end’ in the news coming out of Delhi today, but given all the problems associated with the preparations for the recent Commonwealth Games perhaps it is predictable there that should be some monumental screw-ups in the wind-down period.

Still, that will be little comfort to the Sports Authority of India who have been informed that the timber track in the velodrome at the brand new Indira Gandhi stadium built especially for the Games and rated as one of the very best tracks in the world by the UCI, has been badly damaged barely a fortnight after the closing ceremony.

Contractors dismantling signage, banners and other decorations at the velodrome apparently failed to appreciate the delicate nature of the surface, installed at a cost of millions of euros by a specialist German firm.

Officials from India’s Central Public Works Department (CPWD) which was responsible for building the stadium have informed the Sports Authority of India that the contractors have rendered the surface unusable.

"The contractor did not know how to properly remove the Games signages and in the process of removing them, the cycling timber track was damaged badly," said a senior official, according to the Hindustan Times

"The track is so badly damaged that it can't be used for any other sporting event. Repair work is urgently needed in the velodrome."

CPWD officials say they had instructed the Games' organising committee to ensure care was taken when work was carried out around the track.