"Our target of securing 24 gold medals is realistic because we grabbed 19 gold medals in the previous para games in West Java in 2016," North Sumatra's athletics coach, Hardodi Sihombing, said in Jayapura on Thursday.
The athletics competitions will commence at the Lukas Enembe Stadium in Jayapura district on November 6, he said, adding that North Sumatra athletes had arrived in Papua on Wednesday.
Sihombing said the athletes were ready to compete with their rivals from other provinces at the Papua para games.
Papua is again in the media spotlight as the host of the 16th National Para Games (Peparnas). It successfully convened the 20th National Games (PON) from October 2-15, 2021.
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Unlike PON, which featured 37 events and took place in Jayapura city and the districts of Jayapura, Mimika, and Merauke, the Peparnas is being co-hosted by Jayapura city and Jayapura district and features 12 events.
While PON was joined by at least 6,400 athletes and 3,500 officials from 34 provinces across Indonesia, 1,935 athletes and 740 officials have joined Peparnas.
The athletes will compete in weightlifting, cerebral palsy football, judo, badminton, athletics, chess, shooting, swimming, archery, boccia, table tennis, and wheelchair tennis during Peparnas.
One of the athletes competing in Papua's para games is Leani Ratri Oktila, Indonesia's para-badminton player who secured two gold medals and one silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
The participating provinces have prepared their athletes' departures.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, for instance, had flagged off the capital city's contingent from the Ragunan Sports Center's Plaza Amphitheater on October 29, 2021.
The National Paralympic Committee (NPC)-Jakarta Office has set a target of securing a position in the top 10 in the para games medals table.
However, Governor Baswedan said he hopes that the Jakarta contingent will be in the top five in the medal tally.
Jakarta's contingent for the Papua para games comprises 97 athletes, 48 coaches/athletes, 4 special needs attendants, and 41 support staff.
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Translator: Juraidi, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
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