Transportation troubles irk many athletes and coaches


As the 2011 World Championships enters the fifth day of competitions, international spectators in Daegu have complained about the lack of preparation by the host city and the Local Organizing Committee.

A team manager from a participating nation described the transportation system to and from the Athletes’ Village as “appalling.”

“Transportation is absolutely chaos, total chaos,” said the team leader from the Africa on Monday, refusing to disclose his name or nation.

And it was not just the supporting staff who suffered but the athletes too, who have little enough time to spare without waiting around for buses.

“First evening it took an hour and a half to get back to the village, last night half an hour for the bus, this afternoon an hour for the bus,” vented a furious manager.

Only two buses came every half hour to serve a line of some 600 staff and athletes, according to the manager.

If the athletes, the VIPs at the biggest track and field event of the year, had to wait for their transportation -- the spectators faired far worse.

“When I left, I was in a long line, that took me probably an hour and a half just waiting to get on the bus,” said Shellie Banks, an American who flew in just for the games.

“I started counting and I bet there were at least 500 people out there and there was one bus to East Daegu,” said Banks.

“I noticed across the street there were at least 10 buses completely empty,” she added.

Other expats from out of town were taken for a ride by taxi drivers, one fare costing 40,000 won ($37) did not successfully set the passenger at their destination. A normal taxi fare from the furthest town outside the city to the stadium should cost half that price.

A trio of U.S. citizens, including Melecia Watson, was unable to make the first day of the games, because of the taxi ordeal, wasting their tickets, which cost 150,000 won each.

“The queues last night at the stadium were long,” said a disappointed Richard Cooper who flew in from England.

Many visiting the stadium for up to 13 hours a day had little or nothing to eat due to the lack of concessions or variety of foods on offer.

“Here you can go and buy sort of fast food like chips and things of that nature but to get actual cooked food you have to go outside,” said Banks, who was a high school track and field coach for 15 years.

“I think the only hot food I had was the rice dish that you buy and stick it in the microwave, that’s the only hot food because by the time I leave here I’m tired,” she said.

“I have not had a real cooked meal all day since I’ve been here,” added Banks who left the country on Tuesday, without sampling the Korean food she had hoped for.

Others simply forewent the basic act of eating, unwilling to eat junk food or miss out on any of the games.

“I didn’t eat anything yesterday because I could not find anything to eat,” said Watson.

“If there were more cafes, bars and restaurants near the stadium, people wouldn’t have to go back to town,” said Cooper.

“They have the color square but it’s not even open, we went there today and they said they were opening in October,” he said, referring to the newly built shopping complex next to the main stadium.

The volunteers at the games have been taking heat from spectators, but credit their woes to the lack of training.

“There are parts where training was inadequate. We were simply told that we can tell people to go left or right,” said 21-year-old Jo, a volunteer who declined to give her full name.

“There are times when people ask us and we don’t know the answer, especially when they ask us to find a seat, we can’t really give them a reply,” said 22-year-old Jo.

“I think the education was insufficient but I also think everything overall was inefficient,” university student volunteer Lee said.

“I don’t think we got enough training,” added Jang, a 22-year-old volunteer.

Despite the efforts to have the world run with Daegu during the third ever world championships in Asia, in the eyes of international community here, the city has been disqualified.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)