April 25, 2024
JAKARTA – With 98 days to go until the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics opens on July 26, Indonesia’s national sports associations are intensifying their training sessions for athletes who are heading to the world’s most prestigious multisport event in the French capital.
Among them is the Indonesian Weightlifting Association (PABSI), which has at least two athletes with confirmed spots at Paris 2024: veteran lifter Eko Yuli Irawan and Olympic debutant Rizki Juniansyah.
PABSI had stepped up both athletes’ training regimen and deployed a team of nutritionists, doctors and physiotherapists to help them get into peak condition, team manager Pura Darmawan told The Jakarta Post on Wednedsay.
“We have prepared everything to the fullest,” he continued. “Since this is the [Olympics], we are certainly paying attention to all factors, from the athletes’ physical to mental conditions, as well as sharpening their mindset.”
Eko became the first Indonesian weightlifter to clinch a ticket to Paris in the men’s 61-kilogram category early this month, when he won a silver medal at the 2024 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup in Phuket, Thailand.
The Paris Games will be Eko’s fifth Olympics outing after winning a medal at all four of his previous appearances: a silver medal at both Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016 and a bronze medal each at London 2012 and Beijing 2008.
Rizki clinched his spot in the 2024 Games when he defeated compatriot Rahmat Erwin Abdullah in the men’s 73 kg final at the IWF World Cup in Phuket.
Meanwhile, the Youth and Sports Ministry has announced that women’s lifter Nurul Akmal will be competing in the 81 kg category after a quota reallocation under Olympics rules, but Pura said PABSI was still waiting for official confirmation from the IWF.
Former PABSI manager Alamsyah Wijaya said he was optimistic that Rizki would excel in Paris to gain Indonesia its first weightlifting gold, given his recent performance.
“Rizki can bring home a gold medal if he can maintain his current [lifestyle] and motivation, aside from having good preparation,” Alamsyah said, adding that Eko also had another chance at winning a medal, just like he did at Tokyo 2020.
Weightlifting has consistently contributed an Olympic medal for Indonesia since the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, although Indonesian lifters have yet to win a gold medal.
Growing contingent
At least 20 national athletes from nine sports have secured their spots in this year’s Summer Olympics, by either qualifying outright or being granted a wild card.
Aside from Rizki, among the latest athletes to qualify is track cyclist Bernard Benyamin van Aert, who secured a spot at Paris after he finished 11th in the men’s omnium at the Tissot Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Track Nations Cup, held from April 12 to 14 in Milton, Canada.
Bernard is the first cyclist to represent Indonesia at the Olympics in 20 years, since the Athens Games in 2004.
Indonesia also has at least six badminton athletes heading to Paris: Jonathan Christie and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the men’s singles and Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the women’s singles, as well as men’s doubles pair Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto, women’s doubles pair Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti and mixed doubles pair Roniv Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari.
The country’s shuttlers have won at least one gold medal at every Summer Games since Barcelona 1992, excepting the London Olympics in 2012.
Speed climber Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi trains on March 5, 2024 at the national training center in Bekasi, West Java, as she sets her sights on the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
Other athletes in the Indonesian contingent include recurve archers Arif Dwi Pangestu and Diananda Choirunnisa, sport climbers Rahmad Adi Mulyono and Desak Made Rita, surfer Rio Waida, sprinter Lalu Muhammad Zohri and long-distance runner Odekta Naibaho.
Indonesia could still add more athletes to its Paris lineup since the qualifications would only wrap up in June, said Raja Sapta Oktohari, president of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Indonesia.
Among the sports that could still field Olympics athletes are boxing, which is still in the qualification process, while Indonesia could have a chance at getting wild cards in rowing and aquatic sports.
The Indonesian contingent to Tokyo 2020, which was delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, consisted of 28 athletes who competed in seven sports.
NOC Indonesia has also started preparing for Paris 2024 by flying a committee led by chef de mission Anindya Bakrie to check the readiness of sport venues and training camps in the host city.
“Various sports, such as badminton, will practice at a training camp not far from Paris so that they can adapt [to local conditions],” Raja told the Post.
Asked about the country’s medal target, Raja said NOC Indonesia would only start calculating figures after all Olympic qualifiers had concluded.
Sports minister Dito Ariotedjo has previously said that he wanted Indonesia to win more medals than it did in Tokyo, though he did not mention an actual number.
Indonesian athletes won five medals at Tokyo 2020, with women’s badminton doubles pair Apriyani and Greysia Polii bringing home the country’s only gold medal.