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Bob Hasan prepares solid platform, aims to produce more top athletes

Staying young: Indonesia Athletics Foundation (PASI) chairman Muhammad "Bob" Hasan (center), who is also a noted entrepreneur, poses with athletes practicing on Madya Field in the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Sept

The Jakarta Post
Mon, September 16, 2019

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Bob Hasan prepares solid platform, aims to produce more top athletes

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taying young: Indonesia Athletics Foundation (PASI) chairman Muhammad "Bob" Hasan (center), who is also a noted entrepreneur, poses with athletes practicing on Madya Field in the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Sept. 6.(JP/Wienda Parwitasari)

Indonesia Athletics Association (PASI) chief and renowned tycoon Muhammad “Bob” Hasan has dedicated himself to the world of track and field for more than 40 years. In his eyes, Indonesia is home to a plethora of agile and talented athletes who can master the three basic movements in the sport: running, jumping and throwing.

The potential talents are scattered across the archipelago and need to be found. A trade and industry minister under Soeharto’s New Order regime, Bob has tailored dozens of programs to handle everything related to athletics. Now 88 years old, he is also preparing a solid platform for the younger generation to continue Indonesia’s pursuit of becoming a global competitor in track and field.

Bob recently sat down with The Jakarta Post’s Primastuti Handa-yani, Dicky Christanto and Ramadani Saputra to talk about current strategies and future expectations. Below are excerpts from the interview. 

Question: Why do you think the country’s track and field is struggling to penetrate the international stage?

Answer: Historically, we have seen that it would take too long for us to produce a star athlete out of this sport. We had Dr. Sarengat in the 1960s and then Purnomo in the 1980s. Mardi Lestari of Binjai, North Sumatra, continued the legacy before passing the baton to Suryo Agung Wibowo. So, [we have been able to produce] one top athlete every decade. This is wrong.

Right now, we are perfecting our training regimen and expanding the reach of our talent scouting program. Now, we have a World Champion [Lalu Muhammad] Zohri, who comes from a small village in North Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. We need to accelerate this by [requiring] students from elementary to the junior high levels to practice and learn the basic skills of track and field first. They could learn other sports in high school. This has been our strategy.

What is the reason behind the decision not to send Zohri to the Manila Southeast Asian (SEA) Games?

We plan to send Zohri to the World Championship in Doha. Therefore, he would need to skip the SEA Games so he could recover and practice for next year’s Tokyo Olympics. For the SEA Games, I will send our young athletes instead.

There have been media reports claiming that participating athletes were not given a target for the upcoming SEA Games. Why is that?

We didn’t set a target so the young athletes could maximize their efforts and gain the best experience that would strengthen their position in the sport.

How does PASI supervise its athletes’ physical condition, including their diet?

We have a team of 10 doctors and nutritionists to check their condition regularly. Once we spot a health issue, we try to fix the problem right away. For example, in Emil’s [Emilia Nova] case, she often gets injured. Why? This because she does not chew her food properly while eating. Our body cannot fully absorb vitamins if we do not chew our food properly. This makes her prone to injuries and it should not be happening. Another issue we caught involved Zohri. He is currently suffering an intestinal parasite infection. This is because he never wore shoes in his hometown and rarely washed his hands before eating. The athletes also have digestion problems as they do not eat vegetables.

Have the athletes also been introduced to wealth management?

We encourage them to save every cash reward they receive. We build a system that would not allow them to use the rewards for buying trivial things. Every violation would be met by disciplinary actions. We need to make them realize that it is pivotal for them to start building their future through good investments.

I once reprimanded one of my athletes who opted to buy a fancy motorcycle instead of saving the money. I warned the athlete that he would be expelled from the national training camp for doing something so impulsive yet unnecessary. He then sold the motorcycle and saved the money.

You have been part of Indonesia’s track and field world for over 40 years. Have you been training a successor? Have you developed any strategies for when you decide to step down as chief? 

We have young candidates who have potential, such as PASI secretary-general Tigor Tanjung and Siti Taskiah, my daughter who is also the team manager for Indonesia’s contingent competing in the Doha World Championship, and many others who are ready to take over the leadership baton.

We have also been crafting a good management system, where third-party financial monitoring and supervision is mandated. Besides we have secured the pledge of more than 25 companies to continue their financial support of the country’s track and field efforts. We have a team of professionals who take care the day-to-day operations. These people receive a handsome package for their duties.

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