Irene expected to reach Olympic semis

Irene expected to reach Olympic semis

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian women's sprinter Irene Truitje Joseph
is expected to reach the semifinals in the Sydney Olympic Games
in September.

Coach Pieter F. Noya said to achieve the target, Irene would
warm up in the Asian Track and Field Championships at the Senayan
Madya Stadium in August.

"If Irene can reach the Olympics semifinals, she will be the
second Indonesian woman to do so after Carolina Riewpassa in the
1972 Olympics in Muenchen. However, Irene had to pass through the
qualifying system while Carolina got a quota from the
International Olympics Committee (IOC) and the International
Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF)," he said Tuesday after a
training session.

The Indonesian Amateur Athletics Association (PASI) has
qualified Irene and men's sprinter Yanis Raubaba for the
individual events and the men's 4x100m team for the Olympics.

Pieter said he did not target his athletes to reach their best
form in the Asian championships.

"Our target is the Olympics. The championships is merely a
stepping stone."

However, he views China, Japan and Kazakhstan as tough rivals
in the event from Aug. 3 to Aug. 5.

Irene herself expressed hope in sharpening her personal best
in the 200 meters. Her best time is 23.82 seconds achieved last
year during the team selection for the SEA Games.

Pieter also said the Olympics team would skip the Malaysian
Open championships in Penang from July 20 to July 22.

"Our target is more the Asian Championships instead of the
Malaysian Open. Perhaps PASI will send some athletes but not the
Olympics team," he said.

Bernama reported that the Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union
(MAAU) expected nine countries, including Indonesia, to compete
in the event.

Irene said she wanted to compete in the Malaysian Open after
competing in PON. "But the decision remains with PASI. This
morning Pak Tigor Tanjung (PASI secretary general) told us that
we won't be competing in the Malaysian Open."

Pieter said athletes would not have problems competing in PON
as it has been arranged in the training programs. "PON is
included in our program to reach their peak in the Olympics.
There's no problem at all." (yan)