Abu Dhabi: Olympic gold medallist sprinter Cathy Freeman called on her fellow Australian athletes to trust the security arrangements made by the Indian government and travel to Delhi for the Commonwealth Games in October.
The Olympics champion for 400m in the 2000 Sydney Games, Cathy, who is here for the Laureus world sports award as a member, said trusting the Indian officials will also help participants to concentrate more on their sports.
"Trust the policy maker, experts, officials (of the Commonwealth Games). As athletes they have to trust so that they can focus on their sport," Cathy said, when asked what would be her message to the Australian team which will travel to India for the quadrennial event to be held from October 3-14.
Asked about the assaults on Indian community Down Under, Cathy said, "It concerns me but it is not only specific to India but any people. It is definitely an issue which is at the heart of people's consciousness and awareness in Australia."
"I know what it feels to lose someone but I can assure you Australians generally are fair and good people. We will do what we need to do to ensure that everybody is safe," she added.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, March 09, 2010, 15:49