KONI vies for 50 slots at Athens

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia is looking to gain around 50 slots at the Athens Olympic Games in August, according to newly appointed chef-de- mission Indra Kartasasmita.

Indra, who is also in charge of planning and budgeting affairs at the National Sports Council (KONI), said on Wednesday that they were looking to gain slots in 11 sport events, tentatively.

A total of Rp 20 billion (US$2.350 million) will be sought to finance Indonesia's preparation for and participation in the world's biggest sporting multi-event contest.

Indra said five athletes -- one each from windsurfing, tae kwon do and tennis and two from weightlifting -- had already secured their Olympic slots.

"We will find out about our badminton qualifiers in April," he said. Badminton is the only national sport to have contributed a gold medal at the Olympic level.

However, with KONI planning to launch the "Indonesia Rises" program soon, Indra said there would be no centralized training camp for the qualifiers as in the past.

The "Indonesia Rises" program looks to develop the country's top 100 athletes from various sports with an aim to mount strong challenges in international tournaments, including the 2004 Olympics, the 2005 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Manila and the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar.

The training scheme, according to Indra, would allow athletes to train without having to leave their schools, jobs or families.

"We will leave it their respective sports organizations in preparing the athletes. KONI will evaluate the athletes progress," Indra said.

Indra said a centralized training camp was unnecessary with the athletes still busy competing in qualifying tournaments.