Gunagzhou - Indonesian athletes were still unable to collect a single gold medal until the fifth day of the current Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
In view of that Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng called on the athletes here on Wednesday to keep their spirit high and not become discouraged.
"Do not feel burdened or lose hope because you have not been able to collect a gold medal. Perform as best as possible and keep your spirit high because there is still a chance win it," he said during a visit to the Media Press Center.
Andi said there were still many chances for Indonesia to collect gold medals. He called on all athletes and officials not to be affected and fixated on the initial target.
The minister called on the athletes to continue fighting because the chances to win gold still existed. "You must not feel burdened because no gold has been collected so far while performing in the finals or semi-final rounds because it could affect your performance. Keep up the high spirit and give it your best," he said.
On the occasion the minister called on all coaches and officials to maintain the athletes` morale and fighting spirit so that they would remain able to perform optimally.
"You may lower the target for one athlete but it must become the motivation for others to rise. The stance has already shown a good result with an athlete who was not targeted to collect a medal but eventually won one ," he said.
He referred to Ivana who was able to collect a silver medal from wushu although she was not expected to win a medal in the event.
"Everybody may still have an opportunity (to win medals) as has been proven by Ivana, Citra and Irsal and so will the badminton athletes," he said.
Andi Mallarangeng on the occasion also expressed his appreciation to athletes who had fought valiantly in the 16th Asian Games.
Regarding the Indonesian contingent`s difficulty to win gold medals, the minister said the athletes s from West, South and Southeast Asia were facing the same thing.
"It is not only us who have been left far behind, the same has happened to athletes from East Asia and other countries," he said.
So far China, Japan and Korea have become the biggest three in medal collection, followed by China Taipei and Macao, from East Asia.
"The gold medal collection of the three biggest collectors of gold medals has now reached double-digit figures. Countries from West, South and Southeast Asia and even the former Soviet Union countries could not match them," he said.
The same situation also happened during the Olympic Games where China and Korea competed with each other. This will become materials for evaluation by Indonesia with regard to preparing future athletes and strategy in athletes` development, Andi said.
He was optimistic that through the "Prima" and "Pratama" athlete development programs, including focus on certain branches for the Olympic Games, change would occur in the future.
The minister denied there had been stagnation or degradation in sports achievement. "Not at all. What has happened is a rising but the dynamics is still below the surface.
We are optimistic with the strategies that we have prepared for grooming the athletes we will be able to achieve better performance," he said.(*)
Source: http://www.antaranews.com