RI powerlifters grab gold, silver in Finland

JAKARTA (JP): Two Indonesian powerlifters won a gold and a silver respectively at the 1997 World Games in Finland last week.

Tri Haryanto, 28, won gold in the quadrennial Games' middle weight division (75kgs to 90 kgs) while Sutrisno won silver in the light weight division.

Tri, weighing 75.65 kgs, lifted 300kgs in the squat, 192.5 kgs in the bench press and 290 kgs in the dead lift to make a total of 782.5 kgs.

The 22-year-old Sutrisno, who won the championship last year, failed to win gold but successfully sharpened his personal best. He lifted 285kgs in the squat, 157.5 kgs in the bench press and 280kgs in the dead lift to make a total of 722.5 kgs.

The Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Bodybuilding Association's secretary-general, Djoko Pramono, said that the association's chairman, Soesilo Soedarman, had promised the winners jobs in state-owned Telkomsel companies as a reward.

Tri said: "The key to my success is my high motivation and discipline, as my coach always told me."

Tri's coach, Imron Rosadi, urged him to change from weightlifting to powerlifting due to his imperfect hand movements.

Tri, who also won three golds in the junior world championships, was born to a farming family. He sells used- motorcycles when not training, to support his wife and two children.

Defending champion Sutrisno said he had been sick before the championships.

"I was sick and my physical condition was not very good," said Sutrisno who lives with his wife and child. (yan)