Best athletes get cash bonus
Best athletes get cash bonus
JAKARTA (JP): Twenty of Indonesia's record breaking track and
field athletes who performed commendably in the Asian meet last
year were awarded cash bonus by the Indonesian Athletics
Association (PASI) on Wednesday.
The new year prizes also went to coaches who raised the
athletes after years of rigorous training, pushing many to reach
new heights.
The bonus given to the country's best athletes, including two
juniors, ranged between Rp 500,000 (US$229) and Rp 5 million
($2,290), based on the levels reached in their best events.
Asian Junior Championship 10,000m gold medalist Ferry Junaedi
topped the list of bonus recipients. His trainer, Yon Daryono,
also became the earning leader among coaches with Rp 2.5 million
($1,145).
Ferry, the only athlete to pocket Rp 5 million in cash, gave
Indonesia its only gold in the Asian track and field meet in
September last year.
Indonesia's top relay team of Mardi Lestari, Khodik Juntasi,
Antonius and Ernawan Witarsa received only Rp 500,000 each. They
broke the national 4X100m record in a tournament in Singapore,
prior to their Hiroshima's Asian Games campaign last year. They
finished fifth in the Asiad.
"Cash bonus presentations must go on in the future. They serve
to boost our athletes to perform their best on international
levels," PASI chairman Mohammad 'Bob' Hasan said upon giving the
token prizes.
Timber tycoon Bob said that from this year on, PASI will turn
its focus from training middle-distance and long-distance runners
to nurturing as many sprinters as possible.
"Each athlete should have a good record in sprint, no matter
what his or her discipline is," Bob declared, referring to world
pole vault record holder Sergei Bubka of Ukraine who set his best
sprint at 10.20 seconds.
Consequently, Bob added, the lucrative international 10-
kilometer run, which has been held annually since 1987, will be
dropped from PASI's agenda this year.
"The idea of the race is to invite a massive number of people
to take up running as a habit. The objective has already been
completed," he said. (amd)