Not all athletes will be trained in China but only those who have the potential to grab gold medals in the international sporting event.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Jakarta provincial government, which is scheduled to host the 18th Asian Games in 2018, is planning to send its athletes to China to undergo training in keeping with the preparations for the four-yearly event.

"As we will host the Asian Games 2018, we will send the athletes to China to train for three years as part of the preparations for the event," Deputy Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama stated here on Tuesday.

By undergoing training in China, the athletes would hopefully improve their skills and contribute more gold medals to the Indonesian contingent participating in the Asian Games 2018, he emphasized.

Not all athletes will be trained in China but only those who have the potential to grab gold medals in the international sporting event, he pointed out.

"The athletes who will be sent to China will only be those belonging to sporting disciplines that can contribute many gold medals, including gymnastics, weightlifting, and wushu," he stressed.

Not only the provincial administration, but the central government must also shoulder the responsibility of grooming the national athletes for the Asian Games 2018, he asserted.

"Therefore, I hope that during the government of President-elect Joko Widodo, the Youth and Sports Ministry will have a better program to groom our athletes," he added.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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