OLYMPICS /
News
Similar 'amount of bonus' for Indonesian Paralympians
Xinhua
Updated: 2008-08-29 16:06
JAKARTA -- The Indonesian state ministry for sports and youths (Menpora) gives equal treatment for the just-closed 2008 Beijing Games and the coming Paralympic Games.
"No different treatment, they are all human anyway. The bonus provided for the winning athletes will be one billion rupiahs (US 190,000 dollars)," the expert staff of Menpora Johar Arifin Husin told Xinhua on Friday.
The bonus, wholly provided by the ministry, hopefully will motivate the athletes over three sports, namely swimming, lawn tennis and weightlifting.
Indonesian shuttlers who earned gold medal for men's doubles in the Olympics, Kido and Hendra received 1.5 billion (US 164,000 dollars) from the government, while mixed doubles Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir who brought home the silver, earned 750 million rupiah. The three silver medalists, female shuttler Maria Krisitn Yulianti, and weighlifters Eko Yuli Irawan and Triyatno, pocketed 300 million rupiah each.
The government distributed a total 3.85 billion, a portion of which also went to their coaches.
Husin will accompany the team in Beijing for representing the government official, particularly the ministry. He said that the number of participating athletes was based on the qualification and selection process.
"If only we could send more athletes, that's what we really hoped for. But, it has been fixed, we send only three athletes due to the result of selection and qualification," he said.
