Athletes need science to help boost performance: Experts

Damar Harsanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 05/04/2008 10:05 AM

Sprinter Mardi Lestari, once dubbed the fastest man in Asia, clocked a 10.20 national record at a 100m event during the 1989 National Games. The mark would stand the test of time.

Nearly 20 years later, no Indonesian sprinter has broken the record.

Southeast Asian (SEA) Games double gold medalist Suryo Agung Wibowo, 25, said Wednesday that he would make breaking the record his personal target during the Olympics Games in Beijing this August.

"I hope I can break Mardi's record during the Olympics. I am less than a second away," Suryo, who achieved his best time of 10.25 in the SEA Games in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand late last year, said.

But in the 100m sprint, one second is a long time.

Two years ago, Suryo's senior sprinter John Herman Murray set the same target. Instead of getting closer to the mark, the 27-year-old timed 10.40 during the recent SEA Games. He failed.

While Suryo may follow his path, some say he could break the record -- with a bit of help from science.

"In sport today, science plays a crucial role in boosting the performance of athletes," Dr. Carmen Jahja, a sports doctor, told The Jakarta Post recently.

"It's not exaggerating to say that sport (performance) is all about the work of science, since every detailed aspect of the athlete's performance, like hydration assessment, food intake, to the athlete's psychological condition, should be closely controlled in order to ensure the maximum outcome," said Carmen, who has been involved in training national sport teams, including the national badminton squad for the Thomas and Uber Cup.

Unfortunately, she sighed, Indonesian sports have benefited little from sports science.

She added that the country's key sport practitioners, like coaches and officials, were mostly former athletes, who have spent their entire life practicing, and therefore missed out on a higher education.

"No wonder when it comes to training the young, they prefer to use their own experience as a main reference with some slight modifications, rather than applying state-of-the-art science or technology," she said.

"We have to start with sport science training for coaches and officials if we want to improve our country's sports performance," she said.

Once known as one of Asia's sport heavyweights, Indonesia has witnessed a slump in the performance of its athletes in the past decade, with fewer medals claimed in the SEA Games, the Asian Games and international tournaments.

Professor Young Soo Lee of the Department of Exercise Science from Sejong University in Korea agreed. He said the use of sports science was essential if Indonesia wanted to improve its performance.

"Take one example. In the past, Indonesia's soccer team was a rival to be reckoned with for Korea, since Indonesia had many great players. But now we see no Indonesians playing in Europe, while some Korean footballers are playing in English Premier League clubs and other European clubs, thanks partly to sports science," Lee told the Post on the sidelines of the launch of the sports drink brand Gatorade on Wednesday.

The Korean football association, in cooperation with several universities, had carried out research on the style of play in modern football and found it mostly relied on speed, he said.

Based on the research, the association made some significant changes in training to boost the speed factor.

"There is no run-around-the-stadium-like training anymore. Every training exercise aims to attain certain objectives and meet the demands of the relevant sport," he said.

"If Indonesia want to improve its sport, it must start placing more attention on science," he said.

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