Poor handling overshadows Incheon Asiad

The Asian Games’ cauldron, which is supposed to be kept lit during the 16-day run, went dark for 12 minutes on Sept. 20, just a day after it was lit. / Yonhap

By Nam Hyun-woo

The bibimbap, or steamed rice mixed with vegetables, provided for Incheon Asian Games volunteers at the Gyeyang Asiad Archery Fieldwere was served cold and uneatable on Sept. 19. / Yonhap

INCHEON — A Japanese tourist Tuesday complained how poor the transportation is at the Incheon Asian Games as she visited the official shooting range venue with her friends.

“This is an absurd situation. They should allow taxis at least,” she said.

Now, no vehicles are allowed, except for some VIP vehicles and some authorized for the venue. Taxis were even banned from entering, and visitors were all required to park their vehicles at a nearby high school and advised to use shuttle buses to travel the 1.5-kilometer narrow mountainous path from the parking lot to the range.

Since the shuttle buses operated every 20 minutes, many fans had to wait for a ride. Exiting the stadium was much more difficult because buses only moved after more than 10 people were on board.

Poor transportation was not just a problem for spectators, but star athletes as well, such as Korea’s star swimmer Park Tae-hwan.

On Sunday, Park finished his heat and tried to return to Athletes’ Village. Since there were no other transportation services available, Park waited for a shuttle bus to the village along with 300 other swimmers. At the same time, Park’s chief rival, Sun Yang, went back to the village in a sedan.

With growing criticism over the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee’s (IAGOC) poor handling of the event, a lot of people have raised questions about whether the Incheon Games deserve the title of the region’s largest multi-sport event.

Here are blunders or mismanagement about which visitors and athletes have complained most often.

Volunteers

There are some 13,500 volunteers working at the venues of the Asiad in and around Incheon. Many of them are local residents and university students.

The IAGOC says they are essential for smooth managing of the event, but some volunteers’ thoughtless behavior has prompted criticism.

On Sept. 20, a number of volunteers at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul asked for autographs on balls which Korean players were using at a training session there. Organizers stopped them, saying the official balls would be used throughout the Koreans’ training, thus they should not be taken out of the stadium. While they were arguing, some other volunteers took photos of the players, which prompted the anger of the team’s manager, Ryu Joong-il.

“Many volunteers were busy getting players’ autographs. Players have to do many things as scheduled,” Ryu told reporters a day later. “They didn’t even bring their own ball, but asked for autographs on our training balls. They are not volunteers and not even properly instructed.”

A volunteer at the Munhak Baseball Stadium expressed resentment over the issue.

“Of course it was their fault, but it is unfair to say all volunteers are doing wrong. Many of them are working hard for the good cause of hosting the Incheon Asiad successfully,” said the volunteer surnamed Shin.

Where did the money go?

Criticism also stirred at the Ongnyeon International Shooting Range. The building, remodeled at a cost of some 30 billion won, caused inconveniences for athletes, spectators and reporters.

Since there is not enough space between shooters’ positions and the spectators, the shooters were disturbed.

“To be honest, it is not an international shooting range,” Korean men’s shooting coach Kim Seon-il told the Munhwa Ilbo newspaper.

On Sunday, when a number of men’s shooting events were held there, many reporters, fans, officials and coaches packed the 50m, 25m and 10m ranges. Since volunteers were not well aware of match information, many foreign reporters faced difficulties.

“It’s so crowded and the sad thing is the people wearing uniforms (the volunteers) are not even instructed,” said a photojournalist who refused to be named.

A similar situation continued on Monday. While waiting for their competition, many shooters put their rifles on the ground near the building because there were no lockers for the athletes.

When darkness falls

Much like the Olympics and other major international sports events, the flame should burn until the end of the Games. However, the Asian Games’ flame went out on Sept. 20, just a day after it was lit.

According to organizers, the flame went out for 12 minutes, because of an apparent malfunction of a sensor.

The torch burns a mixture of water and liquefied gas, and the organizers said the temperature of the water tank rose and the sensor malfunctioned and cut power to the cauldron.

The organizers said in a statement, “We have reignited the flame and increased the amount of water to the tank to prevent further malfunctions.”

This was not the first time that darkness fell on the Asiad. Earlier that day, a power outage occurred at Gyeyang Gymnasium where women’s team badminton heats were being held. Because of the outage, screens and lights went off and games were delayed about five minutes.

A day later, the men’s team badminton quarterfinals were held at the same gymnasium. In the competition, Korea beat Japan 3-2, but allegations stirred that wind from air conditioners made the game favorable to the Koreans. Japan appealed, but no reversal was made, while Korea also complained that they also had to face a headwind.

A staff member at the gymnasium told CBS No Cut News that “The air conditioning system was controlled manually, because of the power outage on Sept. 20.”

According to officials, spectators complained that the gymnasium was too hot and maintenance workers turned on air conditioners.

A Japanese coach reported the allegation to the Japanese Olympic Committee, Japan’s Nikkan Sports reported Tuesday.