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ndonesia is pegging its hopes on sixteen-year-old track and field athlete Rizki Latief, who will be the nation's only representative at the upcoming sixth IAAF World Youth Championships in Italy, which begin Wednesday.

Rizki was one of two Indonesian athletes to qualify for the biennial event, having clocked a 100m sprint time under the qualifying time of 11.35 seconds.

His two best recorded times are 10.98, which he did at the East Java Open in Sidoarjo in April and the national youth championships in Jakarta in May.

The other athlete was Bambang Wigianto from East Java, but he was not registered in the Italian event because he is still competing in the ongoing Asian Youth Games in Singapore.

"We hope Rizki can advance to the second round, though we know it will be tough. What's important is to expose him to international events because he is a talented and promising young athlete," Tigor told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The Italian championships will be Rizki's first world event. He has participated so far only in regional events such as last month's Southeast Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where he finished fourth in the 200m race and second in the 4x100m relay.

Rizki, who hails from Tarakan, East Kalimantan, left for Italy on Sunday evening. Rizki is attending a two-day master coaching clinic prior to the championships.

In the previous championship in the Czech Republic, Indonesia dispatched Indah Lisa, but she failed to advance beyond the first round in the 100m hurdles.

"I have to admit that Indonesia's overall performance in track and field has not been fantastic in the Asian region, let alone the world," said Tigor.

"Since 2008 we started focusing on the development of our young and junior athletes. Nevertheless, we cannot work alone and need the full support of the provincial administrations and the central government to promote regular track and field competitions in schools around the country," he said.