Terror tales of Olympic hopefuls

Martinho Da Araujo competes for East Timor in August

Having had to plead for mercy from masked militia men and dodge bullets daily while hiding in the jungle, it is little wonder that the Olympics hold no fears for East Timorese boxer Cesar Pinto.

A mere four-round bout, even if it is against one of the most lethal hitters in amateur boxing, pales into insignificance compared to what he had to survive just to be alive and able to compete.

Thirteen months ago, he was woken by five masked militiamen who ransacked his home as he pleaded for his own and his elderly mother's life.

In a tale of horror shared by the eight colleagues hoping to fly the flag of their new nation in Sydney, the 21-year-old recalled: "They stormed in and shoved guns in our faces and said, if we did not get out, we would be killed."

Gunfire

Next door, more militia were spraying the house of Pinto's friend, Jaime Lay, with bullets as the weightlifter's mother sobbed outside.

Only when the gunmen were distracted by the sound of gunfire elsewhere in the village could the four flee into the nearby jungle.

Behind them, their homes, including all their worldly possessions, were burnt to the ground.

They spent the following weeks hiding in the jungle, avoiding the militia and their bullets.

They shoved guns in our faces and said we would be killed

  Cesar Pinto

Lay, also aged 21, said: "You could see and hear gun shots - pop, pop, pop - from very early in the morning until long after the sun went down.

"They just killed so many people for no reason."

It was not until the first UN troops arrived in Dili in September that the four, along with hundreds of other East Timorese, emerged from the jungle.

Now three boxers, three marathon runners, two weightlifters and a taekwondo fighter are training at the Northern Territory Institute of Sport in Darwin, north Australia, aiming to represent their new nation at the Olympics.

Fighter

Each of the nine hopefuls has their own story to tell.

Taekwondo fighter Uthoc Flaminggo said: "I was hiding in some bushes in the jungle. I saw some of my friends killed."

Another boxer, Rogerio Soares, said he was targeted because the gunmen knew he could fight.

"The militia came looking for us boxers," he said. "They were on a mission to kill us."

I was hiding in the jungle and saw friends killed

  Uthoc Flaminggo

For others, the painful memories are still too much to bear.

Marathon runner Calisto da Costa admitted: "I can't speak about what happened. It is too hard."

However, the athletes are relishing the opportunity of living and training in relative opulence under the International Olympic Committee's Solidarity Scholarship.

Wound

Victor Ramos, a boxer who sports a four-centimetre (two-inch) bullet wound on his left abdomen, enthused: "The facilities in Australia are wonderful.

"In East Timor now, there is nothing; no equipment to train with, because the militia burned it all."

Only four of the East Timorese will be able to fulfil their dream of competing in Sydney.

The lucky few, who will be selected later this month, will have the honour of representing the 2000 Games' youngest nation.