The ninth day of the Lima 2019 Pan American Games is being celebrated with mixed emotions among the thousands of athletes who compete daily for a medal for their country. However, certain deficiencies in the organization and logistics of the competition are starting to be revealed, according to the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio in its digital edition.
"Was Lima prepared? The embarrassing logistics problems that are testing the patience of the Pan American Games participants," is the headline chosen by the aforementioned newspaper for its digital version in an article about the transportation of the athletes participating in these Games, alluding to the major issue that we people of the capital city of Peru have to deal with: traffic.
But it doesn't end there. An accident involving a bus carrying a Chilean delegation -including tennis player Daniela Seguel- has triggered a series of criticisms and questions about how one of the most sensitive issues affecting Lima was not properly addressed.
"The accident revealed the precarious organization of the multi-sport event, which has been marked by confusion in the planning of transportation and even the comfort for the athletes," the publication states. And although the tennis player mentioned that it was not serious during an interview with the radio station Bío Bío, the Chilean media insisted that it revealed "a complete lack of organization in transportation and logistics at each of the tournament's venues."
What did bother the tennis player was the distance between the venue where the tennis matches take place, at the Lawn Tennis of Jesus Maria, and the Pan American Village located in Villa El Salvador. "It takes us an hour, sometimes an hour and a quarter to get there," she said.
Furthermore, to conclude their article, they mentioned that a group of Colombian athletes had to arrange the cones separating the exclusive lane for the delegations, "exposing themselves to the obvious danger of the cars that were speeding through the area," and that "the 'exclusive lane' is not respected and private vehicles are often seen driving in it."
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