Windsurfer Oka qualifies for Olympics<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Windsurfer Oka Sulaksana nailed down his ticket
\nto the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney by finishing 35th in the
\ngolden fleet class of the World Championships in Noumea, New
\nCaledonia, last week.<\/p>\n
Oka's qualification adds to the list of Indonesian athletes
\nwho will compete in the Olympics from Sept. 15 to Oct. 1, 2000.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Yachting and Windsurfing Association (Porlasi)
\nsecretary-general Aji Sularto said on Tuesday Indonesia finished
\nin 11th place among the 22 countries participating in the 12-race
\ncompetition which ended on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Aji said Chinese and Japanese windsurfers also qualified for
\nthe Olympics during the competition.<\/p>\n
\"It now depends on the National Sports Council (KONI) to send
\nOka to Sydney. We have prepared and fought hard to enable Oka to
\nqualify for the Olympics,\" he was quoted by Antara new agency as
\nsaying.<\/p>\n
Aji was skeptical about the likelihood of Oka improving his
\nperformance in the Olympics due to the lack of financial support
\nfrom Porlasi.<\/p>\n
\"We hope KONI will support Oka. There are still many circuits
\nin Europe which can be used as warm-ups for Oka prior to the
\nOlympics,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Aji also said Porlasi could not hire world-class windsurfing
\ncoach Amith Inbar of Israel, who was scheduled to accompany Oka
\nto Noumea, because he already coached for another country.<\/p>\n
Oka -- the 1998 Asian Games gold medalist in the IMCO heavy
\ndivision in Thailand -- is the country's best hope of finishing
\namong the top 10 in the windsurfing competition at the Olympics.<\/p>\n
The Bali-native finished 13th in his Olympic debut in Atlanta,
\nGeorgia, in 1996.<\/p>\n
The windsurfing competition at the Olympics is limited to 40
\nathletes. Eligibility is based on performances in the World
\nChampionships in New Caledonia and the pre-Olympic competition in
\nSydney in February 2000, with the winners of the Asian-Pacific,
\nAustralian-Oceania, North American, South American and European
\nzones also qualifying. The international windsurfing body will
\nalso provide five wild cards, including one for the host country.<\/p>\n
Separately, KONI reported that 10 athletes, excluding Oka, had
\nqualified for the Olympics. The 10 athletes are women's sprinter
\nIrene Truitje Joseph; women's archer Hamdiah; men's swimmers
\nRichard Sam Bera, Wisnu Wardhana, Albert Sutanto, Felix Sutanto
\nand Akbar Nasution; women's swimmer Elsa Manora Nasution; women's
\ndiver Shenny Ratna Amelia; and women's tae kwon doin Juana Wangsa
\nPutri.<\/p>\n
Women's weightlifters Sri Indriyani and Winarni also qualified
\nfor the Olympics after taking silver medals at the ongoing World
\nChampionships in Athens.<\/p>\n
National tennis player Wynne Prakusya has asked KONI to apply
\nto the Sydney Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games for a
\nwild card.<\/p>\n
KONI official in charge of athlete development Mochamad
\nHindarto said he would consider the request.<\/p>\n
\"She is still young. She might not achieve an astonishing
\nperformance at the Olympics, but to compete in the world event
\ncould boost her motivation for the future,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Hindarto also said the centralized training program for the
\nOlympics must begin by February. However, he said the council had
\nyet to receive the expected Rp 6.9 billion (US$985,720) from the
\ngovernment to fund the training. (ivy)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/windsurfer-oka-qualifies-for-olympics-1447893297",
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