Lajev for Asian track and field meet

Lajev for Asian track and field meet

JAKARTA (JP): Abdul Lajev of Tajikistan, the men's hammer
throw world champion, will take part in the 11th Asian Track and
Field Championships from Sept. 20 to Sept. 24.

"He told me personally at the Thailand Open that he will come
for the Asian meet," Gurmilang Kartasasmita of the Indonesian
Track and Field Association said yesterday.

Gurmilang was in Bangkok during the April 20 to April 22
Thailand Open Track and Field International Championships, where
he met Lajev.

At the Bangkok meet, Indonesia managed to earn only a bronze
medal, which was won by Rabaya in the women's long jump. She
managed to grab the medal after jumping 5.64m. The gold and
silver medals were both won by host country athletes, who jumped
5.93m and 5.79m respectively.

All of the 45 Asian Amateur Athletics Association member
countries are expected to take part in the Jakarta meet.

The Indonesian Track and Field Association has been grooming
20 athletes for both the Asian track and field meet and the Dec.
9 to Dec. 17 Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The association also has plans to send them to China in June
and July for some local tryouts. Before their trip to China, the
athletes will be fielded at the Indonesian Open, which also
serves as the National Track and Field Championships, from June 1
to June 3.

In preparation for the Asian meet, the association has been
renovating the Senayan track and field stadium since the middle
of this month. The Rp 2.4 billion (US$1,090,909) renovation,
which is expected to be completed by the end of July, is designed
to make the Senayan stadium into a fully Olympic stadium in
accordance with the International Amateur Athletics Federation
standards.

The facelift of the track and field stadium includes the
introduction of a transportable hammer throw protection cage,
made of elastic nylon, instead of the fixed iron cage, which is
rusty and, as Gurmilang put it, "could be easily broken by
Lajev's putting".

The track will be replaced with a kind of synthetic material
called balsam, which is also used in Sydney's track and field
stadium.

Registration by number for the Sept. 20-Sept. 24 Asian
championships must be received by the organizing committee no
later than July 20. The deadline for registration by name is
Sept. 6. (arf)