KONI expels Supeni from Olympic weightlifting squad
KONI expels Supeni from Olympic weightlifting squad
JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) finally
expelled women's weightlifter Supeni from its Olympic Games squad
but she will still be groomed for the 2001 Southeast Asian Games
in Kuala Lumpur and 2002 Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea.
Olympic executive training director Arie Sudewo told reporters
on Wednesday that he decided to pick three of the four lifters to
the quadrennial event in Sydney next month.
The three lifters are Sri Indriyani and Lisa Rumbewas in the
48 kilograms division and Winarni in the 53kgs.
The decision was made on the basis of technical and non
technical aspects including the personal achievement data of each
athlete as recorded by the Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting
and Bodybuilding Association (PABBSI) and the Olympic executive
training director.
"The decision was taken objectively and not on the basis of
like and dislike," said Arie, who is also KONI vice chairman, as
quoted by Antara.
On Tuesday, Olympic training deputy Imron ZS had said that
Indonesia had a greater chance of winning a medal in the 48kgs
division due to the absence of Chinese lifters.
Supeni's expulsion has been predicted since last week when the
new PABBSI chairman Dharma Surya unilaterally named Lisa instead
as a member of the squad prior to the final evaluations
undertaken on Aug. 9 in Pringsewu, Lampung, and on Aug. 14 in
Jakarta.
The letter upset weightlifting training director Djoko Pramono
who said he knew nothing about the decision. He was also very
angry that as the party fully responsible for Olympics training,
he was not told about the plan to expel Supeni, who competes in
the 53kgs division.
Indonesia earned three Olympics berths at the World
Championships in Athens last year.
Sri and Winarni finished second in their respective classes
while Supeni was fourth while newcomer Lisa came in eighth.
Djoko and Supeni's coach Sori Enda Nasution had said lifters
would need tough mental readiness to compete in a huge event such
as the Olympics.
The Indonesian contingent -- comprising of 48 athletes, 23
coaches and 19 officials -- will be officially announced on Aug.
22. (yan)