Indonesia fails to archieve medal target in Asiad
Indonesia fails to archieve medal target in Asiad
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Busan, South Korea
The world's second largest sporting event was officially closed
on Monday evening with Indonesia finishing in 14th place after
the 16-day Busan 2002 Asian Games, collecting four gold, seven
silver and 12 bronze medals.
The Indonesian contingent failed to fulfill the target set by
the National Sports Council (KONI) of doing better than in the
Bangkok 1998 Asiad, when Indonesia garnered six gold, 10 silver
and 11 bronze medals.
As expected, China topped the list at the quadrennial sporting
event, collecting 150 gold medals, 84 silvers and 74 bronzes.
Badminton's men's singles player Taufik Hidayat saved the
Indonesian badminton team after winning the final match 15-7, 15-
9 against South Korean shuttler Lee Hyun-il at the Gangseo
Gymnasium in the Gangseo Sports Park.
Another Indonesian athlete, I Gusti Gde Karang Asem, could
only finish 11th in the men's marathon clocking 2:34:30 on the
last day of the Games.
Host runner Lee Bong-ju grabbed the second last gold medal of
the 14th Asiad with a commanding record time of 2:14:04, while
Japanese runners Shimizu Koji and Takei Ryuji won the silver and
bronze medals with 2:17:47 and 2:18:38 respectively.
Earlier in the morning, Indonesian chef-de-mission Rudolf S.
Warouw admitted that the Indonesian contingent had failed to
fulfill its target.
"We have failed to improve our performance when compared to
the Bangkok Asiad. But I will take full responsibility," he told
Indonesian reporters.
The Busan Asiad was officially closed by an impressive
ceremony in the Busan Asiad Main Stadium, containing an
extravaganza of cultural performances, and fireworks and light
shows.
While the opening ceremony took as its theme A Beautiful
Meeting, the organizing committee picked the Lighting up the Road
to Home theme for the closing ceremony.
The cultural performance was followed by the raising of the
flags of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), the South Korean Tae-
keuk-gi national flag and the flag of Qatar.
The Qatari capital of Doha will host the 15th Asiad from Dec.
1 to Dec. 16, 2006.
The torch, which has burned throughout the 16-day long Busan
Asian Games, was finally extinguished. The torch was put out
against an acoustic backdrop of boat and train whistles, horns
and the sound of triumphant cries.
Good bye Busan. See you in Doha.