Asian athletics c'ships delay worries athletes

JAKARTA (JP): Asian athletes already qualified for the Sydney Olympics in September may not consider the delay of the Asian Track and Field Championships at Senayan Madya Stadium a major problem.

But Indonesian women's jumper Nyoman Rae Trisandiana, who earned gold medals in the long jump and triple jump at the 15th National Games (PON) in Surabaya last month, is concerned the delay could cost her a chance to qualify for the quadrennial event.

"I really want to compete in the Olympics. I think nobody wants to miss their chance to perform in the event. Earlier, I hoped to qualify during the Asian championships.

"But it was postponed. I think maybe the Indonesian Amateur Athletics Association (PASI) is looking for another qualifying event for me," she said on Wednesday.

Nyoman said she was still far from the Olympics qualifying distance of 13.90 meters in the women's triple jump and 6.50m in the women's long jump.

"My personal best in the triple jump is only 13.42m, which I set at the 1999 Southeast Asian Games. In the long jump, I could only reach 6.04m at PON," she said.

Nyoman, who competed for South Sumatra at the National Games, admitted she held back a little at PON, not giving everything she had in an effort to qualify for the Olympics.

"I thought I would have a second chance at the Asian championships, so I decided not to waste so much energy in PON. Apparently, I made the wrong decision," she said after attending a product launch by Reebok Indonesia.

The Asian championships, originally scheduled to begin on Aug. 3, has been delayed until Aug. 28 due to the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly. PASI also pushed back the Asian Amateur Athletics Association (AAAA) presidential election congress from Aug. 2 to Sept. 1.

The congress will take place at the Jakarta Convention Center. Twenty-seven of the 43 AAAA members have confirmed their attendance at the event.

The delay of the championships does not disturb women's sprinter Irene Truitje Joseph.

"I have nothing to worry about. I have qualified for the Olympics. But I will be very happy if I can reach the finals of the Asian championships," said Irene, who was also attending the product launch.

Irene clocked a time of 11.56 seconds in the women's 100m at the 1999 SEA Games, surpassing the Olympic qualifying time of 11.60 seconds.

Discussing her chances at the Olympics, Irene -- who won gold for Maluku in the women's 100m, 200m and 400m events at PON -- said her goal was to improve on the national record.

"My coach, Oom (uncle) Pieter Noya, said that I'm progressing on pace. He said I still have a long way to go, and I should reach my golden achievements between the ages of 23 and 25. At 18, I'm too young to shine. It is said that when you can climb quickly to the top, you will descend very early.

"I want to climb slowly to the highest achievements, but I want to be consistent," she said.

Meanwhile, Reebok International Ltd. launched a new shoe for children. "Traxtar is a new kind of shoe which contains a computer chip and a sensor which can measure a child's capacity to run and jump," said Ruby Sjabana, Reebok Indonesia's division manager. (ivy)