The Jakarta Regional Development Center organized a training camp for women youth heptathlon as a way to increase participation in combined events in Southeast Asia. An event it says is the gateway to women’s track and field success in international athletics.

The combined event for women, comprising the 100-meter hurdles, 200m and 800-meter, shot put, javelin throw, high jump and long jump, has had little support from regional sports bodies so far, the center said.

The men’s version of the heptathlon is the 10-event decathlon.“We are looking to further promote the event in Southeast Asia because many (track and field) associations here don’t realize that the (heptathlon) is providing a broader basis and options the development of athletics,” sport expert Hans-Peter Thumm was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post.

Thumm, from Germany, was the camp leader of the international Youth Heptathlon Training Camp hosted by the RDC from Aug. 23 to Sept. 2, 2004 at the Madya Athletics Stadium in Bung Karno Sports Complex, Central Jakarta.

The International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF)-sanctioned camp trained 10 young women athletes and 10 coaches from 10 countries of Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and host Indonesia.

Thumm said paying attention to the heptathlon was a vital way of nurturing young talent in athletics.

“A nation that neglects the combined event is reducing athletics fundamental pillars of our sport,” he said.

He said beginners should take up multi-event training programs, which were common in successful sporting countries.

“Youngsters between eight and nine years old in regions such as Europe, the United States, Australia and China take part in multi-event programs in the early phases of their training,” he said.

“Because children are by nature interested in athletics as a whole, not in specialized events, we shouldn’t restrict them to training in a single event.”

The camp would also train coaches in combining the right techniques within a training, Thumm said.

“After the camp the coaches should be able to better observe the strengths and weaknesses of their athletes. Hopefully, when they return to their home countries they will train more effectively.”

Thumm has been helping Indonesia scout for sporting talent since 2003 through a joint Indonesian-German program.

The participants were engaged in both practical lessons in the field as well as classroom sessions. While field sessions focused on the right techniques on each individual event of the heptathlon, class sessions covered, among other things, biomechanics, specific planning of combined events.

At least the expert suggested to intensity efforts by offering decentralized clinics for neighboring countries in Asia