RI boys ready for Special Olympics

RI boys ready for Special Olympics

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A mental handicap should by no means keep a person from
competing, striving and exploring their own capabilities, as Amos
Berry Selly, Michael Rosihan Jacob, Eko Robby Raharjo and I Putu
Sarwada are out to prove.

The four boys, instead of hanging around the mall like many
teenagers, are undergoing heavy training under the watchful eyes
of their coaches at the Special Olympics Indonesia (SOI).

The four will represent Indonesia at the 2003 Special Olympics
World Summer Games in Dublin from June 21 to June 29.

Amos, 17, will compete in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash.
Michael, 13, will compete in the 50-meter dash and the softball
throw, while Eko, 14, will take part in the 25-meter dash and the
long jump. The fourth athlete, Putu, 19, who is training in
Semarang before joining his friends in Jakarta, will run in the
400m and 800m events.

The athletes will be accompanied to Ireland by delegation head
Iskandar Z. Adisapoetra and coach Amran Effendi Siregar, where
they will join some 7,000 other handicapped athletes from all
over the world.

Of the four, Amos, who won gold in the 100m and silver in the
200m at the 1999 World Summer Games in North Carolina, looks to
have the best chance of winning a medal in Dublin.

"My best time for the 100m is 11.3 seconds. I'll give it my
best shot at the Games to improve my time," Amos told The Jakarta
Post during a training session at the Yolanda Soemarno Tennis
Camp on Jl. Fatmawati in South Jakarta, last Sunday.

Amos is also currently training to represent Jakarta at the
2004 National Games in Palembang, South Sumatra.

Indonesia first participated in the 1991 Special Olympics
World Summer Games in Minnesota, and has participated in the
quadrennial event ever since.

This year's Dublin Games are the first time the event will be
held outside the United States since its inception in 1968.

The Special Olympics movement was founded by Eunice Kennedy
Shriver -- sister of former U.S. president John F. Kennedy -- who
believed that people with mental disabilities could take part and
benefit from competitive sports.

Iskandar said the main benefit the athletes received from
taking part in the Special Olympics was the feeling of belonging
to a community.

"Their participation will give them a sense of togetherness,
as they can meet Special Olympic athletes from other countries.
They will see that they're not alone.

"On the other hand, the Special Olympic athletes can prove to
the world that they can also do what other people can in sports,"
he said.

Competing at the World Summer Games, according to Iskandar, is
also a way to evaluate the Special Olympics programs that have
been carried out in Indonesia over the last four years.

"By taking part in sports, children with mental handicaps can
improve their lives, their physical fitness as well as their
confidence and independence," he said.

The Special Olympic athletes will compete with different
regulations.

"Not only do we differentiate them by sex and age but also by
the level of their abilities. This is called divisioning," Amran
said. "There are four age-groups -- beginner (eight to 11 years
old), junior (12-15), senior (16-21) and master (22 and above)."

Athletes in each age-group will then be divided into several
categories based on their ability. A faster runner, for example,
will not be grouped with slower ones, and so on. A division is
made up of at least three athletes and a maximum of eight.

"In addition to the usual gold, silver and bronze medals,
other athletes will get colored ribbons to mark their
accomplishment," said Amran.

He pointed to the Special Olympics oath, which encourages the
athletes to do their best. "Let me win. But if I cannot win, let
me be brave in the attempt."

"We are not talking about defeating other athletes, but rather
showing to everyone that mentally handicapped athletes are also
capable of doing things," Amran said. "I would say it's more of
an individual achievement rather than a pure competition."

Indonesia was lucky to escape the fate of Chinese Taipei, Hong
Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam, all of which were
barred by the Irish government from taking part in the Games due
to fears over Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The decision to bar the countries was strongly criticized by
Mary Davis, chief executive of the World Summer Games' organizing
committee.

However, two weeks from now the four Indonesian athletes will
fly to Dublin. Let us hope that Amos and friends will be the new
Loretta Claiborne, an outstanding Special Olympics athlete who
won the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 1996.

Let us also hope that their participation in the Games will
open our eyes to the fact that the mentally handicapped are
capable of doing many things.