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)