Ruwiyati shuns SEA Games title defense

JAKARTA (JP): The country's best female marathon runner, Ruwiyati, has refused to defend her title at the 19th Southeast Asian Games here next year to protest her exclusion from the marathon at the ongoing National Games (PON).

The chief of Central Java's track and field organization, Karseno, said yesterday that his runner could not understand why the Games committee had barred her from competing in her favorite race.

The committee refused to let 18-year-old Ruwiyati compete in Saturday's race because a medical check-up conducted by it had found a bone disorder in her legs.

The International Amateur Athletics Association has banned athletes under the age of 20 from the marathon for health reasons. But the Games committee had promised to let Ruwiyati run if she had a clean bill of health.

Ruwiyati won the marathon and the 10,000m at the last National Games three years ago. She also won the SEA Games marathon, breaking the meet's record, last December.

The tiny runner, just 1.50 meters tall, retained her 10,000m title convincingly Thursday, beating her personal best of 36:02.65 by 1.35 seconds.

"If she was banned from the marathon on a medical basis, why did the committee let her run in the 10,000 meters ?" Karseno said.

"The organizers have hurt Ruwiyati's feelings by applying such an inconsistent policy," He said. "She has trained hard, but to no avail."

Karseno said the Central Java track and field organization would support Ruwiyati if the Indonesian Amateur Athletics Association took any measures against her.

"Our support doesn't mean a rebellion, but a call for better educated decisions," Karseno said.

In the absence of Ruwiyati, Hilda Napitupulu won the women's marathon in a disappointing time of 3:10:06.68, more than 35 minutes outside Ruwiyati's personal best, which earned her the SEA Games gold medal. (amd)