Foreign sportsmen defy security fears

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The extreme athletes take a breath, steady themselves and focus on a 2.7-meter high wooden ramp before dropping in for a series of radical maneuvers.

The in-line skaters, skateboarders or BMX riders power up and down the ramp, punctuating each turn with a three-sixty (360 degree turn) or risk injury with back-flips and kick-flips as the spectators at the Senayan eastern parking lot in Central Jakarta applaud.

They are seven professional extreme-sport athletes, five from Japan and two from Australia, who traveled to Indonesia as exhibition athletes by invitation of the organizers of Philips X- Rage, the Asian extreme sport championship.

Instead of showing any trace of fear that has prevented thousands of foreigners from traveling to Indonesia, the extreme sportsmen looked enthusiastic while demonstrating their own skills during last weekend's event.

The championship featured athletes from eight Asian countries, with the Japanese and Australian pros being restricted to exhibiting their skills rather than competing.

The athletes appearance in Jakarta, especially those from Japan, may deserve a thumbs-up given Japanese athletes recent attitude to traveling to Indonesia.

Kashima Antlers, Japan Soccer League champion for 2000, refused to travel to Jakarta for its Asian Champions League match against local champion Persija on Oct. 24. The tie, reduced to only one leg, was played in Kashima City, with the home side winning 4-1 and advancing to the second round.

The following week, the Asian Sport Climbing Championship was deprived of the Japanese contenders, who opted to stay away from the competition.

"They have their own reasons for not coming here. For me, it's nice to see this country," one of the extreme sportsmen, Gen Ogawa, told The Jakarta Post through an interpreter.

"People are easy-going here. I don't need to be scared about safety," said the 27-year-old skateboarder, adding that news from Indonesia was at times blown out of proportion.

Unlike Ogawa, Soichiro Nakajima was apprehensive before his departure here, given Japan's siding with the United States in the coalition attack on Afghanistan.

"But it wears away gradually as I have not had any taunting since my stay here," Nakajima, also a skateboarder, said.

Okado Kazuo said fears of traveling to Indonesia were not a specific issue itself but rather flying anywhere in the world following the Sept. 11 suicide plane attacks in the United States.

"But I'm not too worried about it," the BMX specialist said. It was Okado's second visit to Indonesia. The first was in Surabaya in August when he was invited to the final round of the National X-Rage Championship.

Brad Timmins, a 22-year-old in-line skater from Australia, while attesting to a growing sentiment in Australia against traveling to Indonesia, said it was a matter of professionalism which had brought him to Indonesia.

"I'm sure the Indonesian government won't let its people harm foreigners. Furthermore, I trust the event organizers. They must already work on the arrangements including that of security affairs," he said.