KONI to call 39 athletes for Olympics training

KONI to call 39 athletes for Olympics training

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) official in
charge of athletes development, Mochammad Hindarto, announced on
Tuesday that 39 athletes would participate in training for the
2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

The 39 athletes include Supriati Sutono, Irene Truitje Yoseph
and Johannes Murray (track and field), Juana Wangsa Putri
(taekwondo), Oka Sulaksana (windsurfing), Hamdiah (archery) and
Richard Sam Bera, Albert and Felix Sutanto and Wisnu Wardhana
(swimming).

Other sports -- boxing, rowing and weightlifting -- are still
waiting for results of the prequalifying rounds for the Olympics.

Some Indonesian shuttlers, the country's main hope for golds
at the Olympics have qualified for the Games. They are Hendrawan,
Budi Santoso and Taufik Hidayat in the men's singles and Candra
Wijaya, Tony Gunawan, Ricky Subagja, Rexy Mainaky, Flandy
Limpele, Eng Hian, Antonius and Denny Kantono in the men's
doubles.

Hindarto said KONI would support decisions made by sports
organizations to bar athletes -- who are concentrating on
preparing for the Olympics -- to miss next year's National Games
(PON).

"KONI will back up sports organizations' decisions if they
think that PON will not support athlete preparations during
training programs for the Olympics.

"Sports experts have already warned us on the risk of injuries
if the athletes force themselves to compete at PON," he said.

KONI's secretary-general Rudolf Warouw said he and deputy
Harsuki would attend the chef de mission meetings in Sydney
scheduled for the end of this month.

"KONI has yet to decide who is the chef de mission for next
year but the meeting will discuss athletes' accommodation and
transportation, a sports seminar during the Olympics and other
things relating to the Olympic's preparation in general."

Warouw said KONI would call sports organizations to start
discussing each organization's programs prior to the Olympics
national training.

SEA Games

KONI plans to start its training program for the 2001
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur in August 2000.

Hindarto said training would start after athletes compete in
next year's PON to be held in Surabaya in June.

"We will start the Olympics training after PON, probably in
August, with a consideration that we will have a year of
preparation prior to the SEA Games."

Hindarto said 2001 SEA Games organizers would endorse sports
to be featured in the biennial event in the SEA Games federation
meeting in February.

"We can prepare our athletes to attend the centralized
training programs despite their decentralized preparation for PON
in their respective areas," he said, adding that between 500 and
600 athletes were expected to attend training.

Indonesia aims to improve its performance in the 2001 SEA
Games after its poor showing in the 1999 Games in Brunei
Darussalam in August. KONI blamed the athlete's poor performance
on the short training period and budget constraints.

Indonesia, the defending champion, finished third by taking
home 44 golds, 43 silvers and 58 bronzes. The result was the
worst by Indonesia since the country competed in the Games for
the first time in 1977.

Arch rival Thailand bagged 64 golds, 48 silvers and 56
bronzes, followed by dark horse Malaysia with 58 golds, 46
silvers and 42 bronzes. (ivy/yan)