Four female weightlifters likely to miss PON for Olympics

Four female weightlifters likely to miss PON for Olympics

JAKARTA (JP): Four Indonesian women weightlifters -- Sri
Indriyani, Lisa Rumbewas, Winarni and Supeni -- will likely miss
the 15th National Games (PON) in Surabaya in June due to their
training program for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney in September.

The Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Bodybuilding
Association (PABBSI) secretary general, Djoko Pramono, said he
would still have to discuss with national coach Imron Rosadi if
the four lifters would be allowed to represent their respective
provinces at PON.

Djoko said the National Sports Council (KONI) had sent
notification to PABBSI urging them to be responsible for any
injuries sustained by athletes at PON that might spoil their
chances of competing at the Olympics.

"We have to focus on the bigger target. The Olympics is the
biggest sports event in the world, so we have to skip the smaller
event in order to reach our goal. I can't forbid or allow them to
compete in PON because I will discuss it with Imron first," he
told reporters on Monday.

Djoko said PABBSI was hoping the lifters win Olympics medals.

He said most athletes were eager to compete in PON because the
provincial authorities offered them cash bonuses.

"But KONI has promised to provide bonuses for athletes who
withdraw from PON to attend a centralized training program for
the Olympics."

Indonesia has three tickets to the Olympics after finishing
eighth at the World Weightlifting Championship in Athens, with
one gold and four silver medals.

The International Weightlifting Federation rules state
competitors who are ranked between seventh and ninth at the
championship earn three tickets to the Olympics.

Djoko said the centralized training program for the women
lifters would start on Jan. 1.

"They will train with their respective coaches. In June, the
training will be centralized in Lampung with Imron as the coach."

Indriyani and Winarni are training in Lampung, Lisa is in
South Kalimantan and Supeni is in Ragunan, South Jakarta.
Indriyani and Lisa compete in the 48 kgs division while Winarni
and Supeni are in the 53kgs division.

Djoko said Indonesia would not send men's weightlifters to the
quadrennial event.

"Only the world's top 12 qualified for the Olympics. Erwin is
only ranked 19th. We decided to use the money -- which earlier
was allocated to send him to the final Olympics qualifying round
in the Asian Championships next year -- for grooming the women
lifters instead," said the retired Marine major general.

Djoko, who is also chairman of the Indonesian Scuba Diving
Association (POSSI), disclosed that four sports organizations,
including POSSI, had to pay transportation and accommodation fees
to the PON organizers.

He said he refused to pay, saying POSSI could manage
transportation and accommodation without the organizers' help.
But POSSI would pay for the medals fee.

"We can arrange board and lodging by ourselves. We will not
pay for the security fees. I can arrange to field Marine units as
security guards for the event. We can also hire Marine trucks to
transport our athletes to their venues," he said.

He said that each sports organization was required to pay Rp
1.2 billion (US$171,430). "We have counted by ourself, and it
turns out that we only need to pay Rp 300 million to the
organizers for transportation and accommodation." (ivy)