TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Asian Games officially ended its nearly two-week run on Sunday, October 8, with a grand closing ceremony at the Hangzhou Olympic Stadium. Host China dominated the medal count, emerging as the overall champion with a spectacular haul of 201 gold, 111 silver, and 71 bronze medals.

The medal tally even dwarfed Japan's achievements, which finished second with 52 gold, 67 silver, and 69 bronze medals. Indonesia, meanwhile, finished with seven gold, 11 silver, and 18 bronze medals, 13th in the overall medal standings, just ahead of Malaysia.

At the Southeast Asian level, Thailand was the best performer, with 12 gold, 14 silver, and 32 bronze medals.

Indonesia missed its target of 12 gold medals and 12th spot. This achievement was also a far cry from the 2018 Asian Games, where the Merah Putih Team bagged a total of 98 medals, consisting of 31 gold, 24 silver, and 43 bronze.

However, the host factor also influenced the results as there was the privilege of adding superior sports. If the host factor was not taken into account, the result in Hangzhou was the best in the last 41 years.

At the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games, Indonesia collected four gold, four silver, and seven bronze medals. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s ranking has been better since the 2002 Busan-North Korea Asian Games. At that time, the team was ranked 14th.

Raja Sapta Oktohari, the chairman of the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI/NOC Indonesia), believed that the Indonesian team’s performance at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games should be evaluated for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“We have a lot of references from the Asian Games as the evaluation materials for Paris. After this, we need to sit down together and evaluate what improvements we need to make. The Paris Olympics is only a year away and the qualification is underway, we need to optimize it,” Okto said, as quoted from an official statement on Sunday.

Okto assessed that there were a number of things to be thankful for. “BMX continued its tradition of winning gold medals in the Jakarta-Palembang (2018 Asian Games). The Wushu athletes performed impressively in the country of origin of this martial art. The Archery athletes obtained tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” he said.

“In weightlifting, athlete Rahmat Erwin Abdullah won gold and broke a world record, an Asian record, and an Asian Games record. Speed climbing was also able to set an Asian Games record, and the silver awarded by the skateboarding team could, God willing, be the capital for Indonesia to qualify for Paris.”

Okto also asked netizens not to bully athletes who missed their targets on social media. “Athletes are national assets. They have fought for all of us, so they don't deserve to be mistreated,” he said.

He also said that the results of the Asian Games could be an evaluation for the National Sports Grand Design (DBON).

The Indonesian contingent's Chef de Mission (CdM) Basuki Hadimuljono said the Asian Games was a valuable experience for him to interact with athletes.

“Regarding evaluation, sports certainly have benchmarks. In Incheon, we were ranked 17th, and here we are ranked 13th. We need evaluation in sports, which the government needs to improve. First of all, the facilities and programs,” Basuki said.

“As far as I know, the budget is not a problem. The program must be evaluated because the budget must also be adjusted to the program. This is what needs to be addressed if our goal is the Olympics. I will talk to the Youth and Sports Ministry and the Finance Ministry,” Basuki concluded.

NURDIN SALEH

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