where is the village PT Usha asks about the accommodation model of the Asian Games

People walk past the cruise ship Costa Serena, which is carrying athletes for the Asian Games, in the port of Nagoya, Japan. (PTI Photo) Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha on Tuesday questioned the decision by organizers of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games to scrap the conventional athletics village, saying she and several other members of the event’s coordination committee protested the plan.Usha, one of India’s most successful athletes at the Asian Games, said the Athletes Village is about more than accommodation. She said it brings together athletes from different countries and creates an atmosphere that is associated with a multi-sport event.Athletes at the Aichi-Nagoya Games are housed in a variety of locations, with a cruise ship serving as the main accommodation facility instead of a single purpose-built village. Games organizers cited cost and sustainability as the main reasons for the arrangement, which divided opinion.“Actually, everyone protested. Most countries protested, actually… even me,” Usha said when asked about the decision not to build a traditional Games Village.“I am saying this because I have traveled from 1982 till now and I have seen most of the villages. It is completely different from this, with the boat and everything. I think even the OCA (Olympic Council of Asia) did not want it, but somewhere or the other they had to accept it,” she added as quoted by Gncy news PTI.Asian Games full coverage | Schedule | Medal countsUsha, who was part of the coordination committee, said the Village system was defended because of the interaction it allows among athletes.“I was on the coordination committee and most of the coordination team objected. We wanted the Village system because it’s always good,” she said.“Everyone can get together and see each other and mingle. That’s what makes the village so good.”Usha said the accommodation alone was sufficient, but said the lack of a centralized village could lead to logistical and coordination problems.She also pointed to the distance between the venues as another problem in the way the Games were organised.Usha, who has competed in several Asian Games, Olympics and Commonwealth Games, said the venues of the earlier editions were closer together, which made it easier to watch different sports.“For me, the problem is that in our time, even though we didn’t have many facilities, places were very close. If you wanted to go from one place to another, it was very easy,” she said.“Here, if I have to go to shooting and then to cricket, I have to take a different route. So I can only go to one place if I want to see many games.”Usha acknowledged that a dispersed model could help different areas benefit from sports infrastructure, but said it also reduces the availability of venues.“Maybe they (organisers) say every place will have infrastructure and everything, but that’s the big difference I felt,” she said.Usha also rejected the suggestion that the arrangement in Japan could mean the end of the traditional Games Village.“I don’t think the culture of the village will change because when we were on the committee, nobody liked the idea,” she said.