Sport bodies told to prepare for Games qualifiers

Sport bodies told to prepare for Games qualifiers

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) has urged
sports organizations to begin preparations for qualifying events
for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, many of which will be
held later this year.

Mochamad Hindarto, the council's athletes development chief,
told reporters after a meeting to evaluate the country's
performance at the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok in December last
year, that athletes, especially Asiad medalists, should be
trained at designated sports association training camps.

"We'll advise all sports organizations to begin preparing
(Asiad) medalists for Olympic qualifying events by March at the
latest," he said.

Indonesia won six golds, 10 silvers and 11 bronzes at the
recent Asiad. The medals came in badminton, beach volleyball,
boxing, karate, rowing, taekwondo, tennis, track and field,
weightlifting, windsurfing and wushu events. Before the games,
the council had set a target of six golds, 11 silvers and 13
bronze medals.

"We'll also advise sports organizations to prepare second
string athletes for the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in
Brunei Darussalam and the Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia,"
said Hindarto, who was accompanied by the Asiad contingent's
secretary Muhammad Sarengat, training camp chief Albert Thomas
Paruntu and his deputy, Subardi Suar.

"Sports organizations must work harder and prepare better for
the 2000 Olympics and the 2002 Asiad in Pusan, South Korea. If we
won six golds with only one year's preparation (last year), then
we'll train athletes for two years and win more golds at the next
Asiad," he said.

In comparison, host nation Thailand began preparing its
athletes almost immediately after being named as host of the
quadrennial event in 1990. It went on to finish fourth in the
medals table by winning 24 golds, 26 silvers and 40 bronzes.

Neighboring Malaysia, which hosted the Commonwealth Games last
August, won five golds, 10 silvers and 14 bronzes in the Asiad.

"We have to be proud that our athletes were still in the top
10 in Asia," he said.

Citing an example, Hindarto said the men's indoor volleyball
team finished sixth after being absent from the Asiad for 12
years, when they finished last.

He also said that two of five sports in which at least one
gold had been expected, taekwondo and boxing, had missed their
targets.

"But we won unexpected golds on the track and windsurfing," he
added.

Hindarto said that some sports associations had left very
little time to prepare their athletes resulting in unsatisfactory
performances at the Asiad.

"I don't have to mention the associations, but there were five
who intentionally didn't follow our guidelines."

Guidelines

He said that one association began preparing its athletes in
June, a mere six months before the Asiad was due to open.

"The council's Sports Science and Technology Center
distributed training guidelines to the organizations, but many
coaches had to revise the programs due to the poor physical
condition of athletes under their supervision," he said.

"The athletes had one or two months off after the 19th SEA
Games (held in Jakarta in 1997), then when they joined the
training camps they were below peak physical condition. It then
took many of them almost six months to regain their fitness," he
explained.

Hindarto said the council received some financial assistance
shortly before the contingent departed for the Asiad, but said
that more money was needed earlier in the build up to the event.

"Actually we needed more money to prepare our athletes and to
buy sports equipment instead of paying for their transportation
and accommodation," he said.

The council received Rp 5.5 billion (US$687,500) from the
National Development and Planning Board to finance centralized
training programs and transport to the event. It also received Rp
3 billion from the Association of Indonesian Wood Panel Producers
(Apkindo) and Rp 2 billion from the Gelora Senayan Management
Board. (yan)