KONI sets date for Olympic's training

KONI sets date for Olympic's training

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) announced the
centralized training program for the 2000 Olympic Games would
begin on Feb. 1.

KONI official in charge of athlete development Mochamad
Hindarto said on Friday each sport with athletes who had
qualified for the Olympics or were still competing in Olympic
qualifying tournaments should send their athletes to the program.

"The Olympic Games are getting closer. The centralized
training program must begin at the latest on Feb. 21. If we begin
later than that, we will only have a little time for making
adjustments in the training," he said after a KONI plenary
meeting.

"The athletes will be invited to join the training program by
the end of December. After the Idul Fitri holiday we will start
the physical and health tests," he said.

Hindarto said he would discuss the training program with
experts from the council's research and development department.

"We will ask the experts to help us prepare the training
program for the athletes, so we can get them in peak condition
for the Olympics," the retired police major general said.

Indonesia has qualified 13 athletes for the Olympics,
scheduled to be held in Sydney next September.

They are women's sprinter Irene Truitje Joseph; women's archer
Hamdiah; men's swimmers Richard Sam Bera, Wisnu Wardhana, Albert
C. Sutanto, Felix C. Sutanto and Akbar Nasution; women's swimmer
Elsa Manora Nasution; women's diver Sheny Ratna Amelia; women's
tae kwon doin Juana Wangsa Putri; women's weightlifters Sri
Indriyani and Winarni; and men's windsurfer Oka Sulaksana.

National shuttlers have until April 30, 2000, to qualify for
the Olympics and the Badminton Association of Indonesia hopes to
qualify 24 shuttlers.

KONI secretary-general Rudolf S. Warouw said earlier this
month the council would issue notification letters to sports
organizations to ensure athletes who had qualified for the
Olympics did not compete in the 15th National Games (PON) in
Surabaya, East Java, next June.

Hindarto said Warouw's statement had not been discussed during
the plenary session.

He said he would speak with sports organizations about barring
Olympics-qualified athletes from taking part in PON.

"The athletes would not be able to reach their peak condition
for the Olympics. We only have three months from PON to the
Olympics. We can't do much if the athletes have peaked during
PON. Moreover, they could suffer an injury," he said.

"But we will consult with the experts and the sports
organizations because each sport has its own characteristics. We
will mainly focus on the benefits and disadvantages for the
athletes and the national contingent should they compete in PON."

Hindarto said he would fly to Kuala Lumpur next February to
attend a Southeast Asian (SEA) Games Federation meeting which
will be held to decide which sports will be featured at the 2001
SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

"I will attend the meeting which will determine the sports and
events to be featured at the SEA Games. If we know the sports, it
will be easier for us to prepare our athletes." (ivy)