Long Road to Olympics

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Indonesian sprinters (left to right) Bayu Kertanegara, Eko Rimbawan, Lalu Muhammad Zohri and Fadlin celebrate after claiming the silver medal in the men’s 4x100 meter relay at the Asian Games at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Thursday (30/8/2018). Japan won gold and China had to put up with the third place.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The government has pledged to prioritize support for national sports in a bid to shine at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. For this purpose, the main focus of development should be on Olympic sports.

“After the Asian Games, our next major program is the Olympics. We need to encourage a mind-set focused on the Olympics,” Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi said in Jakarta on Thursday (30/8/2018).

Imam said the President would increase the national sports budget and that his ministry had been instructed to maximize the budget for athletes’ development.

The ministry will soon evaluate sports based on achievements in the 2018 Asian Games. The increased sports budget will be prioritized for Olympic sports. Nevertheless, the government will still support non-Olympic sports even if they are not prioritized.

The Youth and Sports Ministry also plans to make a road map of an athletes’ development program, which includes using Asian Games venues.

“We will use [the venues] for national training camps. We will also internationally promote [the venues] so that they can be used for single-sport and multisport championships in the future,” Imam explained.

The ministry’s deputy of sports achievement, Mulyana, said in-depth evaluation would be conducted after the Asian Games to identify which sports had the potential to win medals in the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Manila and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Special integrated training programs will be established for sports that will be included in the two events. Mulyana cited athletics, weightlifting, taekwondo, rowing and tennis as examples.

New system

The ministry’s secretary, Gatot S. Dewa Broto, said the implementation of a new system in distributing sports funds and developing athletes played a huge role in making achievements in the 2018 Asian Games. The new system, based on Presidential Regulation No. 95/2017 on improving national sports achievements, is deemed to have reduced red tape in the management of sports funding. The system also gave national sports associations more latitude in managing national training camps.

“The new system will also be used to prepare for the 2019 SEA Games and the 2020 Olympics,” Gatot said.

On the other hand, Gatot said he hoped sports associations would be more transparent in regard to realistic medal targets, athletes’ physical condition and equipment needed. This is because the government has limited funds for sports.

For the 2018 Asian Games, the government allocated Rp 735 billion (US$49.8 million) for athletes, including Rp 135 billion for a training camp for the 2018 Asian Para Games. Due to the limited funds, only athletes deemed to have potential could attend training camps. Funding for other athletes was expected to be covered by sports associations.

“Funding needed for training camps that included up to second-echelon athletes was Rp 1.2 trillion. It was extremely difficult [for the government] to approve the funding,” Gatot said.

Sports associations’ hopes

The 2018 Asian Games prompted the construction or refurbishment of several sports venues, including the Jakarta International Velodrome for cycling and a canoeing slalom venue in Bendung Rentang, Majalengka regency, West Java. These venues should be used optimally to support athletes’ achievements even after the Games end.

National cycling team head coach Dadang Haries Purnomo said the velodrome would enable Indonesia to host track cycling competitions. In January, for instance, an Asia track cycling championships will be held there. “The plan is to host the [track cycling] world cup at the velodrome in 2020. Hopefully it will become a reality,” Dadang said.

Through hosting international competitions at the refurbished velodrome, Dadang said he hoped Indonesia could maintain its prowess in sport. The velodrome would serve to encourage local cyclists to improve their skills and participate in trial competitions in international championships on home turf.

Previously, the lack of a first-rate velodrome forced the national cycling team to go abroad for training despite the huge cost involved. With the Jakarta International Velodrome now open, the national team can train there. Foreign national teams may also set up training camps there.

Indonesian cyclist Ayustina Delia Priatna said she participated in only two trial competitions, namely in China and in Malaysia, before the 2018 Asian Games. “This was not enough. Our lack of experience led to our strategy and stamina being lower than that of foreign athletes, such as those from Japan,” she said.

Separately, Indonesian Rowing Association (PB PODSI) deputy chairman Hari Sidharta said he hoped the canoe/kayak slalom venue in Bendung Rentang, Majalengka, would be properly maintained. Many foreign athletes had praised the venue as it was deemed challenging.

Hari said Indonesia had the potential to achieve great things in canoe/kayak slalom, as long as its athletes continued to gain experience and take part in local and international competitions.

“We are convinced that, if the [Bendung Rentang] venue is well-maintained for national team practices, we will achieve great things in two or three years,” he said.

(KEL/IKI/E19/E16)