RI bodybuilder can't guarantee gold but will try

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia's leading bodybuilder Ade Rai has warned against unrealistic expectations ahead of his planned participation in the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.

"I can't promise to win a gold. What I can assure the Indonesian people of is that I will do my best," Ade told The Jakarta Post by phone on Thursday.

"Don't expect too much from me," he said. "Bodybuilding is a sport where subjectivity can weigh on the decision. I'm not making any excuses."

Ade is now almost certain to take part in the Asian Games, scheduled for next September, after the Asian Bodybuilding Federation (ABBF), at its congress in Myanmar last November, cut short the three-year ban that has been imposed on him since August 2000.

The Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Bodybuilding Federation (PABBSI) is seeking approval from the National Sports Council (KONI) for eight bodybuilders to take part in the Busan trip in addition to the 12 lifters already endorsed.

PABBSI's executive director Gandrung said that the eight would be chosen on the basis of a national selection event scheduled for Feb. 8 next year.

PABBSI's plan to call up Ade signals a truce between the bodybuilder and the Federation.

ABBF suspended Ade, whose international achievements have brought recognition for both PABBSI and Indonesia, after he breached federation policy by taking part in a musclemania competition in the United States in 2000.

Throughout the period of his suspension, animosity between Ade and the national federation has been palpable, and frequently marked by verbal jousting in the media. Ade also organized a number of tournaments that PABBSI refused to sanction.

Ade lamented the fact that PABBSI had seemed unwilling to fight to prevent his suspension. Instead, it punished him by not recognizing his tournaments.

"Now that they need me they are asking me to compete in Busan," Ade said.

Despite his frayed relationship with the federation, which he encapsulates in his assessment that "PABBSI needs better human resources", Ade decided to take up the Korean challenge.

Ade, who accused certain PABBSI officials of having "tampered" with him, said: "I'm not competing for PABBSI's interests, but for the sake of Indonesia."

He signaled the Korean mission would probably be his first and last appearance at an Asian Games given that bodybuilding events had been a very rare occurrence at previous Games.