KONI maps out strengths ahead of 2003 SEA Games
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The National Sports Council (KONI) announced an early mapping-out of its medal chances at the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games with chairman Agum Gumelar saying that the policy reflected the council's wish to put its cards on the table before heading to Vietnam.
The SEA Games, the biennial multi-event sporting showcase for the Southeast Asian nations, will be staged in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi in December.
KONI plans to take part in 29 of the 32 sports contested at the games. This means that Indonesia's athletes will be competing in events involving 420 of the 435 gold medals on offer.
During his presentation at KONI headquarters here on Wednesday, Djoko Pramono, who is in charge of supervising the preparations of Indonesian athletes, revealed his initial calculation that the current strength of the Indonesian contingent was roughly equal to around 56 gold medals.
"That's an initial calculation after I consulted the sports organization bodies. Their calculation of medal prospects should increase when we meet again one month before our departure to Vietnam.
"And this is what we have to press ahead with in each of the sports organizations. If our gold medal hopes remain as they are today, we will have to ask what's the point of their training workouts," Djoko said to assembled KONI officials.
"A sports organization that can't promise an increase in its medal expectation had better dissolve itself," Djoko said only half-jokingly.
From Djoko's description of medal prospects, it appears that in the main sports, including athletics, aquatics, shooting and gymnastics, Indonesia will be unable to challenge tough rivals such as Thailand and Malaysia.
Those four sports make up the bulk of the medals on offer with 152 golds, but only seven are expected to come Indonesia's way. In the 2001 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia brought home 12 out of the 156 gold medals offered in these four categories.
Agum brushed aside suggestions that the initial medal count by the sports organizations was too pessimistic.
"We are not being pessimistic about our prospects at all. Rather, it's a reflection of our willingness to identify where we are at the moment," he told reporters after the meeting.
"As we are aware of our position, we can decide what to do next so as to do our best at the SEA Games," he said.
Although some sports organizations have already begun training, KONI will announce on Sunday that May 1 is the official commencement of the training period.
Meanwhile, Indra Kartasasmita, the KONI officer in charge of planning and budgeting, said that in a bid to increase Indonesia's medal haul at the SEA Games, KONI would propose the inclusion of certain events in the list of sports.
The proposal will be forwarded during a council meeting in Vietnam's business capital of Ho Chi Minh City on Friday.