No Games for Ruwiyati without doctor's certificate
JAKARTA (JP): Ruwiyati will not compete in the SEA Games here unless she can present a doctor's certificate to prove she is healthy, Pieter Noya, a training coordinator for the Games, said yesterday
Pieter told The Jakarta Post that the test by Ichramsyah Tahman, Ruwiyati's doctor, did not prove that the national marathoner was fit for the biennial Games.
"We want Ruwiyati's doctor in Semarang to provide us a certificate stating that she is fit to attend training for the Games. All we have heard is from the medical test and this it not enough proof that she's really fit," Pieter said.
Pieter said the results of Ichramsyah's test did not specify her condition in detail. "Is she 100 percent suffering from osteoporosis, that's what we want to know. We want precise details on Ruwiyati's health."
Pieter knows the 19-year-old marathoner well and was once her coach. Pieter is an International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) certified coach and has been training national athletes since 1963.
Total rest
Pieter agreed with the opinion of Djoko Pramono, the Games training director, that Ruwiyati should take a break from running and not compete in any international marathons until she had fully recovered.
"I agree with Djoko that Ruwiyati should take another medical test in May after it was discovered that her health was deteriorating. I agree also that the marathoner should not take part in East Java's Malang International Marathon on March 30 because I fear that she will suffer another injury," Pieter said.
Pieter said Ruwiyati's participation in the Malang race was against IAAF rules.
"IAAF ruled that only runners above 20 years of age may compete in international races. Should Ruwiyati compete in the Malang race, she and the organizer must face the IAAF," Pieter said.
On whether Ruwiyati could join the Jakarta Games, Pieter said this all depended on her training performance with the national squad in Jakarta.
"We are strict on our athletes and have applied that only those who have passed the training are eligible for the Games. Those who fail in training are dropped from Indonesia's athletics team for the Games. This also applies to Ruwiyati, she has to pass the training first before she qualifies for the team," Pieter said.
Ruwiyati, a member of the Tiger Lokomotif Salatiga club, was expected to win a marathon gold medal at the Games in October. She won a gold medal in the marathon at the 1995 SEA Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, when she clocked two hours 34 minutes and 29.12 seconds, breaking the SEA Games record. Singapore's Yvone Danson Tan finished second.
The National Sports Council is expected to decide in June whether Ruwiyati can run at the Games.
Ruwiyati said Wednesday that her health was improving.
Ruwiyati told Antara news agency in Salatiga that she was training hard in Noebong, near Salatiga, Central Java, and around nearby Mount Merbabu.
"I do not feel any pain while I am running. I am ready to compete in any race," she said.
She is now concentrating on the Malang marathon which she hopes to win as she did in 1995. Illness stopped her competing in the event last year. (lnt)