Bonuses offered to record breakers

Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Cash bonuses will be offered to record breakers at the four-day National Track and Field Championships beginning at the Madya Stadium on Saturday.

A total of 546 athletes, the largest number of participants in three years, will be featured at the competition, which runs until Tuesday.

With 342 male and 204 female athletes, the participants come from 30 provinces.

The Indonesian Amateur Athletics Association (PASI) has pledged a reward for those who are able to set new national records in any of the 42 events contested.

But the organizers have yet to disclose the amount.

"We can't disclose the amount just yet until we know how many and by how much the records are broken," Purnomo Yudi, from the organizing committee, said in a media conference here on Thursday.

Purnomo said that PASI was glad to find the large number of participants to take part. "I hope this will be a new trend in Indonesian track and field."

According to the roster made available to the media, the province of Papua will come to the event with the largest team of 63 athletes, followed by Banten with 55 and Central Java, which is renowned as a stronghold of athletics, with 47 athletes.

Host Jakarta will field 31 contenders.

The competition will also be the qualifier for the 2004 National Games in Palembang, South Sumatra, as well as for slots to represent the country at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vietnam this December.

Veteran athletes, including sprinter Irene T. Joseph, pole vaulter Ni Putu Desi and long-distance runner I Gede Karang Asem, will be joined by a top young prospect, Verry Subnaveu, who placed fourth in the Singaporean Marathon last December.

PASI is currently grooming 52 athletes for the SEA Games and is hoping more promising recruits to shine at this competition.