Games over
The 16th National Games (PON) officially closed in Palembang, South Sumatra, in a triumphant fashion last night, as athletes and spectators celebrated two weeks of the best sporting competition the country has to offer. What was on offer varied from the excellent to the mediocre, the average to the farcical.
There was the world-record-breaking feat of lifter Sutrisno; the courage of Febi Subnafeu of East Nusa Tenggara, who crawled barefoot to finish a grueling three hour marathon; and the bizarre postponement to the next day of the 15-minute extra period of the soccer final between East Java and Papua because the floodlights were inadequate.
Nearly 60 national records and one world record were broken.
We congratulate all the athletes who participated -- irrespective of whether or not they won a medal -- for dedicating their lives to their sports and giving their best during this sporting feast.
While medals and records are important, it is the spirit of fair competition and brotherhood that we will cherish most from the Games.
Let us remind ourselves of Pierre de Coubertain's closing remarks at the 1908 Olympic Games, when he said that the most important thing is not to win but to take part -- just as in life, where what is most important is not the triumph but the struggle.
The Games were not about who's best. Every one of the athletes, trainers and officials who participated leaves the Games a winner if they put in their best and played fairly. The young province of Gorontalo, with just two medals, should return home as proud as mighty Jakarta with a total haul of 361 medals.
It is better to lose nobly than to win deceptively, yet, there were still occasions on which athletes and officials would let emotions -- in the heat of the battle -- overcome their sense of decorum. There were still unruly scenes of officials physically charging at organizers and juries to protest what they perceived as unfair decisions. Not becoming behavior in an arena that is supposed to exemplify the human spirit of fair play.
As predicted, the Jakarta contingent reclaimed the PON crown with a gold medal tally of 141, nearly double that of its closest rival East Java. Jakarta has traditionally been the dominant force of the quadrennial Games. Its dominance briefly gave way in 2000, when host East Java topped the medal rankings.
We hope Jakarta will be magnanimous in their victory. But, It is no accomplishment of which to boast per se. The capital has a distinct advantage over other provinces. It has the best sporting facilities, and the need to compete on a higher international level often means the nation's best athletes migrate to the capital.
No small amount of recognition should also go to the people of South Sumatra. They put on a fine Games. For the past fortnight they were distinguished as the hosts of the Games, not just for their much-loved pempek (fish dumplings), the Musi River and the Ampera Bridge.
We hope the tradition of alternating provinces to host the Games will continue. Initially, after the inaugural event in Surakarta, Central Java, in 1948, the Games was hosted in turn by a number of cities -- Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Makassar and Surabaya. But from PON VIII in 1973 to PON XIV in 1996, Jakarta monopolized the hosting of the Games, offering various reasons, some legitimate, some not.
It was only in 2000 that the Games was again held in Jakarta. We welcome the next event, which is to be held in Kalimantan in 2004. Only in this way can our National Games truly serve its fundamental purpose, of promoting sportsmanship and bringing us together in brotherhood.