Asian athletes still chasing world status

JAKARTA (JP): When East meets West in track and field, West, with its world-class athletes, is sure to have the better side. Will they ever stand equal?

The answer is "yes, event for event" according to Lou Dapeng, one of the Asian Amateur Athletic Association's vice presidents.

Lou was stressing the importance of professionalism -- which characterizes athletes of the West but which Asian athletes are lacking.

"Most top athletes in the world are professional. We should apply professional approach if we are serious about improving Asian athletes' performance," said Lou.

Lou acknowledged that professionalism alone won't suffice: "In some events, Asian athletes are disadvantaged because of their diminutive frames. In long-distance running, for instance, small frames don't matter. But in javelin throwing?"

He advised Asian countries to first focus on improving their strengths rather than trying to keep up with the West in events at which Western athletes are physically better.

Lou also urged Asian countries to improve the standard of living of their athletes, give them good sports facilities, training and chances of competing at the world level.

"Compared with the West, the standards of Asian competitions are lower in general. How can you produce world-class athletes from low-standard competitions?" Lou asked.

Lou's opinion is also shared by Qatari head coach, Mahmoud Abu Al-Ainien: "Dependence on financial availability explains the frequent ups and downs of Asian athletes."

Another factor in Asian athletes' poorer performances, Lou said, was the fact that as a competitive sport, track and field in virtually all Asian countries is "not as popular as soccer."

Lack of good coaches is the next factor. Mohammad Hasan, chairman of the Asian Amateur Athletics Association, said Indonesia has not even one IAAF-accredited coach. The IAAF is the International Amateur Athletic Federation.

"Presently, we have around 300 elementary-level coaches but only three intermediate-level coaches," he said, adding that poor mastery of English was to blame for the shortage.

"We have the IAAF's regional developing center here. But it is rarely frequented by our coaches. They don't understand English. They can't read the center's books, let alone take part in promotion tests."

Moreover, Asian track and field is not as established as the West's, he added.

Asian carbohydrate-oriented eating habits are another barrier. To succeed in track and field, Asians should eat food with high protein content, Hasan added.

The next factor is lack of good track and field programs in schools, a factor which engenders recurring student brawls on Jakarta's streets, he said.

Yet, even good training programs sometimes have adverse effects. Says Sri Lanka's head coach Dervin Perera, "we once sent three of our best athletes to the United States for a three-year stint. You know what happened after three years? They found jobs there and got married with Americans and no longer interested in track and field. They don't even want to go back to Sri Lanka." (arf)

Medal tally

G S B Total 1. China 20 13 5 38 2. Qatar 5 2 4 11 3. Japan 3 7 5 15 4. Kazakhstan 3 3 4 10 5. South Korea 2 4 1 7 6. Srilanka 2 1 2 5 7. Saudi Arabia 2 0 0 2 8. India 1 1 4 6 9. Chinese Taipei 1 1 1 3 10. Turkmenistan 1 1 0 2 11. Bahrain 1 0 0 1 12. Uzbekistan 0 3 3 6 13. Thailand 0 2 3 5 14. Indonesia 0 2 0 2 15. Azerbaijan 0 1 1 2 16. Malaysia 0 0 3 3 17. Iraq 0 0 2 2 18. Iran 0 0 1 1 19. Philippines 0 0 1 1 20. UAE 0 0 1 1