Nathan Robertson: 'I'm going to the Games – it's not ideal but I've seen this before'

(David Ashdown)

I have never had any doubts about going to Delhi for the Commonwealth Games. I've seen things like this happen before. At the Athens Olympics in 2004 venues were still being finished and painted. I remember walls were being put up during the competition.

Even the accommodation wasn't finished when we were out in Kuala Lumpur at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. So it's not the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last time, that things are being put together at the last minute. It's not ideal, of course, but it's just the way it is sometimes.

Obviously it comes across very poorly on television, with the state of the athletes' village and the bridge collapsing and the roof at the weightlifting venue. But there are still quite a few days to go. Things like cleanliness and clearing up piles of rubble and fitting the toilets can be sorted out in 24 hours. I would expect that would all be sorted out by the time most of the athletes arrive. I've been told by our team leaders that the English accommodation in the village is in good condition.

It's not for me to comment about other athletes pulling out. The badminton team had to pull out of an event in India last year over security concerns. We travelled to the World Championships in Hyderabad but there were reports about the event being a possible target and our team leaders didn't feel that the security was of a high enough level to guaranteed our safety. But this is a totally different event.

The Commonwealth Games is a lot bigger. It's a multi-sport event. And I don't have any fears about the security out there. We're in the village, which is very heavily guarded. We have got police escorts to and from the venues, so as far as security is concerned I don't have an issue with that.

The only important thing for me is that the village is clean because of the chance of any health issues that you have because if you get an illness during the Games it will probably kill off any chances of a medal that you had.

Nathan Robertson was speaking ahead of tonight's British Olympic Ball at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, which is presented in partnership with BT