Best athletes warm up at Asian meet

Best athletes warm up at Asian meet

JAKARTA (JP): Asian Games gold medalists will test their
mettle at the 11th Asian Track and Field Championships to be held
at the Madya Senayan stadium from Sept. 20 to 24.

Secretary-General of the Indonesian Track and Field
Association, Pramono Kartohadiprodjo, confirmed that world
women's 1,500m record holder Qu Yunxia and her 10,000m teammate,
Wang Junxia, will lead China's 50-strong team in defending its
title at the newly renovated stadium.

The continent's fastest man, Talal Mansoor Al-Rahim, and his
all-conquering Qatar men's team will also be among the Asian
athletes. Mansoor won his third consecutive gold medal, in
addition to his 200m gold, at the Asian Games in Hiroshima last
year.

A total of 572 athletes from 33 countries have confirmed their
participation, including teams from the athletic powerhouses of
South Korea and Japan.

President Soeharto is scheduled to open the championships, the
second to be held here since the 1985 meet.

It was not clear, however, if Chinese coach Ma Junren will
return to his job during the biennial event. The controversial
coach, renowned for his "secret potion" of turtle blood, smashed
his car and was hospitalized in January.

Wang led at least eight teammates away from Ma early in
January, accusing the coach of pocketing their cash prizes. Wang
also said she no longer could take Ma's dictatorial style and
mercurial moods. Qu was the only prominent runner to stay at Ma's
training center in Dalian.

A weakened Chinese side could only manage a silver at the
World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden last month. A stark
contrast to their fantastic stride in 1993 when China finished
second with four golds in a series of record-breaking runs.

Ma paraded his superstars as China romped home with 22 gold
medals in the Asian Games track and field competition.

The coach is currently training a team of young athletes for
the Olympic Games in Atlanta next year.

No target

Indonesia will bank on a 28-strong team groomed for the 18th
Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Pramono said the
athletic association did not intend to set a certain target.

"We are keeping our low profile style. It will be difficult to
grab even a gold medal," he said on Tuesday. Indonesia left the
last meet in Manila empty handed two years ago.

Olympic 100m semifinalist Mardi Lestari, who is preparing for
a rare fourth straight win in the upcoming SEA Games, is a
hopeful. "We hope he wins a bronze for us," Pramono said.

He added that the national Asian Championships team would
likely be the same as the SEA Games team. However, he denied that
the continent's biggest track and field meet will serve as a
warm-up to the games.

"They are our major agenda this year. We want to perform
commendably at the two events," he said.

Thailand, fresh from its morale-boosting victory at the
Singapore Open, will field the biggest team during the five-day
Asian championships.

Pramono said 99.5 percent of the preparations for the meet had
been completed. The stadium has undergone a six-month renovation.

"Our new track meets the world track and field body's
standards," Pramono said. (amd)