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)