Indonesia sweeps four more golds in cycling

Indonesia sweeps four more golds in cycling

By Innocentius Christianto

JAKARTA (JP): Two more golds yesterday took Indonesian cyclist
Nurhayati past the halfway point in her goal of five for the
Games.

First-place finishes in the 3km Individual Pursuit and sprint
added to her gold from Sunday's 20km Individual Time Trial.

"These are also for my country," she said.

The hosts won four golds yesterday.

Masleza Nordin of Malaysia (4:09.45) and Indonesia's Selly
Guntari (4:15.69) were behind her in the individual pursuit.

Malaysia's Hamilah Mohd. Janis and Indonesia's Secelia
Successtoria Harly were second and third in the sprint.

Indonesian Suwandra won a gold in the men's 4km Individual
Pursuit in 4:54.15. Although outside his own record of 4:53.13,
his time slashed the Games record of 4:57.28 set by Kumaresan
Murugaya of Malaysia in 1987.

Compatriot Teguh Eko Pambudi won silver (5:04.52) and
Thailand's Thongchai Wangardjaigram the bronze (4:55.57).

The gold quartet was rounded out in Team Pursuit by cyclists
Hengky Setiawan, Henry Setiawan, Herry Janto Setiawan and Dedy
Effendi.

Malaysia and the Philippines won the silver and bronze medals.

Indonesia almost made it five out of five, but Nurrochman had
to settle for silver in the final of the men's sprint.

A referee disqualified Nurrochman on the first lap for
obstructing the line of Malaysia's Rosman Alwi, who was declared
the winner. Bronze went to Andry Sudrajat of Indonesia.

Nurrochman said he understood why he had been disqualified,
but added he had seen other cyclists commit the same infractions
in overseas competitions without incurring penalties.

The Indonesian camp did not pursue a follow-up objection after
the panel of judges upheld the referee's decision.

"By not making a second protest, Indonesia acknowledged that
it accepted the decision," the president of the Asian Cycling
Confederation, Dato' Seri Darshan Singh Gill, told The Jakarta
Post.

Indonesian cycling training director Subronto Laras said there
would have been no point to make a second appeal.

"It's true that there's a rule on the straight line, but
anybody may tremble when speeding. We decided not to prolong the
case in order to keep the image of Indonesia as a good host."

Chairman of the Indonesian Cycling Association, Harry Sapto,
said he believed Nurrochman's mistake was unintentional.