Indonesia looks for three golds in Athens Olympics
Indonesia looks for three golds in Athens Olympics
Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta
The National Sports Council (KONI) will send 39 athletes to
the Athens Olympics in the hope of winning at least three gold
medals, according to a top KONI official.
KONI secretary-general Djohar Arifin said here on Monday that
medal hopes would rest not only on badminton but also
weightlifting and tae kwon do.
"We have a good chance of winning gold medals in these three
sports," he said at his office.
While lifters and tae kwon doins have yet to prove themselves,
shuttlers have, since 1992, been the only contenders ever to earn
Indonesia gold medals.
However, Indonesian shuttlers will head to Athens against the
backdrop of a wane in performance, which culminated in their
failure to retain the Thomas Cup in May.
The failure contributed largely to the ouster of Chairul
Tanjung, now replaced by Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso as the
chairman of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI).
The 2000 gold medalists are not in the team, either, with
Candra Wijaya failing to make the team and Tony Gunawan already
changing allegiance for the United States.
Djohar tried to be optimistic, urging the current crop of
shuttlers to be inspired by the past team's achievements that
resulted in two golds at Barcelona and one apiece at Atlanta and
Sydney.
Djohar said Indonesia's weightlifting medal hopes would be
strongest in the under-48 kilogram category, while mentioning
Satrio Rahadani as the best tae kwon do prospect.
Indonesia's 39-strong contingent is made up of badminton, with
14 players, followed by weightlifting (7), swimming (3), tae kwon
do (2), athletics (2), archery (2), tennis (2), judo (1), boxing
(1), canoeing (1), rowing (1), cycling (1), shooting (1) and
wind-surfing (1).
Some 30 officials will accompany the athletes. The team will
be inaugurated officially on Aug. 3.
The majority of athletes will depart for Athens from Jakarta
on Aug. 8, but judo and wind-surfing athletes are expected to
head to the Olympics directly after their overseas training.
KONI promises Rp 1 billion (US$107,500) in bonuses for gold
medalists, plus Rp 500 million and Rp 250 million respectively
for winners of silver and bronze medals.
"The athletes are in good shape, but we still need to improve
our players' fighting spirit to meet the Olympic challenge," he
said.