Jakarta, Central Java lead track and field

Jakarta, Central Java lead track and field

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Palembang

Jakarta and Central Java took two gold medals each on the
second day of the track and field competition, which again had
some uninspiring performances at the National Games here on
Tuesday.

Jakarta collected its golds through Nunung Jayadi in the men's
pole vault and Achmed Sakeh in the men's 200-meter dash while
Darminah and Mujianto were Central Java's gold medalists in the
women's discus throw and men's 3,000-meter steeplechase,
respectively.

East Java, North Sulawesi, South Sumatra and West Kalimantan
also joined the medal celebration by picking up one gold medal
each.

But the celebrations were a bit muted as most of the athletes
fell short of their on personal bests.

The lone highlight on the track was in the women's discus
throw in which Darminah managed to break the Games record to win
the gold for Central Java. Her throw of 45.97 meters was an
improvement from the previous record of 45.95 meters.

Darminah beat fellow Central Java thrower Dwi Ratnawati, who
had a 45.49-meter throw and Winda Dianita of South Sumatera, with
40.78 meters.

Nunung took a shot at 5.15 meters in a bid to break the
national record of 5.13 he set up in 2002. But he failed to
surpass the national mark, blaming the pole he used for the
failure.

"I was really looking to breaking my record in this PON. I'm
not happy with merely winning gold. But it was difficult to break
the record as the type of pole that I am using is different than
the one I was using in 2002.

"It was type 80 back then. This is type 77," Nunung told
reporters on Tuesday.

Nunung said that his type 80 pole got broken and could not be
used anymore. He said he had been trying to get a new pole but
instead he was given a type 77.

"I only had three months of preparation. My pole got broken
three weeks ago. There was not much time to get a new one so I
had to stick with this one," he said.

Nunung had to be content with a 5.00-meter jump to win the
gold. His brother Saini grabbed a silver after he managed to jump
4.20 meters and Hendiarsin Oslan gave Central Kalimantan the
bronze with an equal mark, but Saini got over the height on his
first jump, while Oslan missed the first two attempts and settled
for bronze.

Achmed Sakeh ran the 200 in 21.00 seconds to win gold, leaving
behind Papua's John Murray in 21.21 seconds and West Nusa
Tenggara's Kurais in 21.59 seconds.

Central Java's other gold was contributed by Mujianto who won
the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9 minutes 23.07 seconds.

The West Java duo of Abdulmanan and Fathurrohman finished in
second and third with times of 9:29.15 and 9:37.73, respectively.

In the other events, Deysi Sumigar of North Sulawesi beat
record holder Irene Truitje Joseph to win the women's 200 meters.
Desy clocked a time of 24.30 seconds.

Irene ran 24.87 seconds, which was far from her own personal
best of 23.86, which she ran in Brunei 1999. Yulia Novita took
the bronze in 25.37 seconds.

Edwin Patileamonia of West Kalimantan triumphed in the men's
800-meter run with a time of 1 minute 52.83 while East Java's
Ester Sumah won in the women's category in 2 minutes 12.16
seconds.

Ong Kok Hin of South Sumatra won men's hammer throw in 52.16
meters.