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)