Games over
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.