Hit By Strong Winds, Three West Papua Parachutists Fail To Land Perfectly

A female paratrooper from West Papua, Jose Damayanti landed outside the runway (Photo: Aloisius Namsa/PPM Public Relations)

JAKARTA - There were three women's team parachuting athletes from West Papua, who failed to land perfectly in the second round of Parachuting PON XX Papua, the category of landing accuracy for men's teams and individuals at the Mimika district government headquarters field venue.

West Papua's parachuting coach, Sumeri, blamed the strong winds that drove her three female athletes away from the runway. Forcibly, the three chose to secure themselves and could not enter the landing circle point, Tuesday, October 5th.

The three female athletes are Jose Damayanti, Desy and Siswi. All three are senior parachutists and have participated in quite a number of national and international level events.

"The wind was strong. It exceeded the limit for landing accuracy. It was actually just for safety," said Sumeri, quoted from the official website of PON XX Papua.

According to him, the referee and officials have submitted a rejump to make the next landing. However, it all depends on the decision of the three athletes.

"Actually, when they started flying and took off their parachutes, there was already a request from the referee to rejump. They began to be hit by the wind at the same height," he said.

The Technical Delegate of PON XX Parachuting Sports, Achmad Effendi Soen explained, the parachuting competition will be held for 8 rounds. However, its implementation depends on the weather.

In Round II, there were five teams that took part in the landing accuracy category, namely Aceh Putra, DIY Putra, West Papua Putri, West Java Putri and Central Java Putra.

"Round one has been completed and now this is the second round of matches. We have problems playing with what kind of weather. If the planes are okay, maybe tomorrow and help with additional planes," he explained.