Zac Guildford. Photo / Getty Images
Commonwealth Games-bound Zac Guildford says renewed security concerns won't keep him from competing in Delhi - even though his mother has urged him not to go.
"Mum asked me to stay home, but I told her I have to go," Guildford said.
The star 2009 All Blacks rookie departs with
the New Zealand sevens squad for Dubai in nine days' time before heading to India for the Games, beginning on October 3.
Safety issues were again highlighted on Sunday when two Taiwanese tourists were hurt in a shooting outside Delhi's main mosque.
But Guildford, the Hawkes Bay flyer, said if the team were given the green light , he would have every confidence in security.
"Our officials will make the decision and, really, you just need to have faith that they've put the right measures in place," he said. "If I had real concerns then I wouldn't go - but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I don't want to miss out."
Julie Shaw of Hastings, who also hopes to head to Delhi at the end of this month as a netball technical official, said she wasn't deterred. As a non-competing team member, she said, she felt "unknown" and didn't consider herself a potential terrorist target.
The only possible time of concern would be when she was at the stadium with the athletes.
"Yet my daughter put it in perspective when she said I could be hit by a bus tomorrow - that's really my attitude too."
The NZ Olympic Committee is seeking further information on the shooting.
- APN
