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Comments of Mr. Maurice Nicholas, General Secretary of AAA on his inspection of the preparation of the 13th Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Jakarta

It was a fruitful site visit to Jakarta for the 13th Asian Junior Athletics Championships to be held from the 12th to 15th June 2008.

All aspects of preparation are in place and the teams coming to Jakarta will find their stay in Jakarta for the Championships a pleasant one.  The Organizing Team under the leaderships of AAA Council Member, Mr. Tigor Tanjung, was found to be of cheerful disposition and full of enthusiasm and raring to go to get the job done.

The whole Madya Stadium has undergone a complete renovation and athletes will find the facilities updated with no complains to make.

All teams coming for the Championships should do their part by submitting their Final Entries by Name on time and inform the Organizers of their flight details accurately so that they may be met at the airport without any problems and their stay in Indonesia can be made a pleasant one.

Asian AA Honorary Life President, Mr. Bob Hasan, who is also the President of the Indonesia Athletics Federation, will be hosting the Asian Junior Athletics Championships for the third (3rd) time and will be happy to meet all the teams and will be a very generous and gracious host. (May 22,2008)

Jakarta to host Asian junior track and field championship

Indonesia will host the 13th Asian junior track and field championships at Madya Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta, from June 12 to 15. At least 41 countries will take part in the annual event, with Myanmar, Afghanistan, North Korea and Mongolia yet to confirm their participation.

Tigor M. Tanjung, head of the organizing committee, said track lanes in the stadium were undergoing repairs.

"We're putting finishing touches on about 550 square meters of the stadium's track and hopefully all facilities will be ready before kickoff," he said at a press conference Monday. Tigor is also secretary-general of the Indonesian Athletics Association (PASI). He said PASI had procured training equipment for use by the athletes. "We have prepared accommodations at two hotels for about 800 athletes and officials," he said.

The team from China will be the biggest contingent, with 49 athletes and 15 officials. Athletes aged between 18 and 20 years will compete in 44 track and field disciplines. "Indonesia will participate in only 24 events," Tigor said.

Paulus Lay, deputy chairman of athletes development at the association, said PASI was helping almost 60 athletes prepare for the competition. "For this year's tournament, the association has prepared 59 athletes, 20 of whom come from outside Jakarta," he said.

He said Indonesia had good prospects for winning medals in several events, including the women's long jump and the men's 4x100 meter relay.

"In the women's long jump, we have a rising star in Maria Londa, who broke the Southeast Asian record at the South East Asian Youth Championships in Phuket, Thailand, last week," he said.

Paulus also singled out M. Patoniah, Fadlin, Fernando, Anton Dwi Cahyo and Fradlin Burumi as other potential medal-winners. "We'll try to get as many athletes as possible in the final round in each category," he said. "Our main aim is to prepare these athletes for the 2009 and 2011 Southeast Asian Games," he said. ( The Jakarta Post, May 27)