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RI roller skaters train at housing complex for Games
Tough love: Indonesian roller skaters train on a road at the Summarecon Bekasi housing complex in West Java on Tuesday
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ough love: Indonesian roller skaters train on a road at the Summarecon Bekasi housing complex in West Java on Tuesday. The Indonesian team does not have a specific training ground to prepare for the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang next month. (Kompas/Kelvin Hianusa)
One of the downsides of being involved in unpopular sports is facing limitations.
This is happening to the Indonesian roller skating team who has been forced to deal with inadequate facilities to train at ahead of next month’s Asian Games at home. The Indonesian team will participate in the men’s 20-kilometer and women’s 20-km events.
Ever since undergoing a training camp in March, the team has to move from one place to another for training as no special ground has been built for the roller skating national team, which contributed 12 gold medals at 2011 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Palembang, South Sumatra.
On Tuesday, The Jakarta Post observed the team holding a training session in a public area at the Summarecon Bekasi housing complex in West Java.
A total of eight athletes — four men and four women — shared the location with joggers, and sometimes motorcyclists, while practicing on the complex’s road, which unevenly encircles an open space.
The training location was far from proper, said skater Alifia Namasta who is a recent senior high school graduate, adding that the complex’s road, which was not made for the sport, could easily damage their skates.
Despite it not being the ideal place to hone their skills, national coach Karta Wibawa said the team carried on with the training program regardless.
“Luckily, the athletes are ready to train at any kind of spot. They have shown progress [since the beginning of the training camp in March],” Karta said on Tuesday, adding that the team had been training in the housing complex for a week.
The coach revealed that before the housing complex, the team had trained in the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) sporting complex in Senayan, Jakarta — the main venue for the Games — as well as at a roller sports training ground near the Patriot Candrabaga Stadium in Bekasi.
The team moved to the Bekasi ground as the GBK track did not match the 20-km racing events.
Despite the inadequate training ground, all athletes are motivated to win.
At the Games, Indonesia will only deploy Muhammad Oky Adrianto and Tias Andira in the men’s event as well as Alifia and Salma Heryadie in the women’s event.
Oky, 25, is the one of the favorites, especially after he won a gold medal at the 2011 SEA Games.
Debutant Alifia said she would do her best at the Games. “I’m not going to lie I feel a lot of pressure to compete in a big event like the Asian Games. I know I carry a big responsibility, but I’m also very excited.”
Alifia and Salma competed at the World Championships in Arnhem, the Netherlands, early this month. Alifia finished 62nd in the marathon category, while Salma ended 64th. In the race, winner Taiwanese Ho-Chen Yang, who clocked in at 1:10:33, had a nine-second gap on both of them.
Ahead of the Games, Team Indonesia will only be available to train at the sport’s venue at Jakabaring Sports City in Palembang for a week.
“Ideally [as the host], we should practice at the venue way before the Games kick off. A week is not enough,” said coach Yedhi Heryadie.
Training properly at the venue was important as it was the only chance to learn about the track’s asphalt in order to decide on the suitable gear for the competition, said Karta.
The Jakabaring venue was inaugurated by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on July 14. The venue was built in early March at a cost of around Rp 3.3 billion (US$228,976).
