Marathon golds fail to stop Thais

Thu, 14 Dec 1995

CHIANG MAI, Thailand (JP): Two record-breaking runs by Indonesian marathon runners were not enough to spoil Thailand's gold sweep on the fourth day of the Southeast Asian Games yesterday.

By late afternoon, Indonesia had added nine more golds to bring its total tally to 33. Thailand swept golds on almost all fronts, raising its tally to 80 from 55 at the start of the day.

Gone was the Indonesian official slogan Kita Harus Menang (We've Got To Win) so often heard in Indonesia in the two months prior the Games.

Indonesian athletes continued their fight, but now with a different objective of making a respectable second position, salvaging golds here and there against the formidable Thai gold- making machine.

At least the morning began brightly for Indonesia, with both golds in the marathons and new Games' records in the process.

Ruwiyati, an 18-year old high school student from Salatiga, Central Java, ripped 11.14 seconds off the meet's record, helped by the early-morning, 13-degree-Celsius temperature of nearby Lamphun province and the blistering pace she shared with favored British-Singaporean runner Yvonne Danson.

She completed the course in 2 hours 34mins 29secs, shattering the 1989 record set by her compatriot Suryati.

"We knew long beforehand that she would be running against this girl from England," said Ruwiyati's coach Peter Noya, explaining that she had trained at a high altitude in her hometown Salatiga.

Suyono, from East Kalimantan, completed the Indonesian double by winning the men's event in 2:21.02. He too rewrote the Games mark. His 2:21.09 run improved by 1.43mins the 1991 record of Filipino runner Herman Suizo, who did not finish this time.

Unfortunately, the marathoners failed to lift the fighting spirit of their fellow Indonesians as most continued to play second, or even third fiddles to the host athletes.

The few other golds that added to Indonesia's tally were contributed, among others, by Oka Gusti Sulaksana in windsurfing's Mistral heavyweight and Edi Musiyamtoro in the men's tae kwon do lightweight category.

In the swimming pool, Indonesia managed only one gold from the men's 4-by-100-meter freestyle and in gymnastics, Jonathan Manggiring Sianturi won the men's ring category.

Indonesia earned its fourth and fifth judo golds from men's lightweight Yudie Sulistiyo and Wahid Yudi Sulistianto in the men's half-lightweight category.

Host Thailand is also picking up gold in some of the more prestigious sports.

Yesterday, its three-man team high-kicked its way to victory 2-1 against rival Malaysia in sepak takraw, a regional game which is like volleyball, but played with the feet and using rattan ball.

The cheering crowd, banging drums and waving flags helped inspire the Thai side to overwhelm the Malaysians, who had hoped to win the hotly-contested competition.

Singapore's Joscelyn Yeo and Thailand's Rattapong Srisanont, who have both been swimming their way to victory and new records over the past few days, continued their golden streaks.

Yeo improved her 100m freestyle record by nearly half a second, winning gold in 57.19 seconds.

Rattapong, who has become a cult hero to fans packing the stands, shaved more than two seconds off his old 200m individual medley record to set a new one of two minutes, 4.74 seconds.

Thai marksmen and women continued to mine gold, winning the men's free pistol tea and individual events, and the men's air rifle team and individual events. (amd)