Indonesia Brings Home 2 Gold Medals and 1 Bronze Medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, an Achievement That Needs Evaluation?

Todaysgist.com, Jakarta – On the 13th day of the 2024 Paris Olympics after the opening ceremony, Thursday (8/8/2024), Indonesia finally secured the gold medal.

Veddriq Leonardo was the first to ensure that Indonesia Raya was heard after defeating his rivals in the series of number competitions. speed rock climbing sports branch at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue.

After eliminating Bassa Mawem (France) and Reza Alipour (Iran) on his way to the final, Veddriq defeated his arch-rival Wu Peng (China) in the final.

This is the first time a sport outside of badminton has won an Olympic gold medal for Indonesia. Badminton representatives have always been Indonesia’s mainstay at the Olympics. The gold pair of Susi Susanti (women’s singles) and Alan Budikusuma (men’s singles) first did so in Barcelona 1992.

Rexy Mainaky/Ricky Subagja (men’s doubles, Atlanta 1996), Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya (men’s doubles, Atlanta 1996), Taufik Hidayat (men’s singles, Athens 2004), and Hendra Setiawan Markis Kido (men’s doubles, Beijing 2008) continued the Red and White tradition.

Liliyana Natsir/Tontowi Ahmad (mixed doubles, Rio de Janeiro 2016) and Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu (women’s doubles, Tokyo 2020) followed suit. However, Indonesian badminton athletes failed to win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, repeating the failure of London 2012.

With Sam Watson completing the podium speed rock climbing son, Veddriq’s success felt even more special because the Red and White flew above the flags of China and the United States. Sam Watson from the US broke the world record but only won a bronze medal. While the silver medal winner was Wu Peng from China. Veddriq’s gold medal achievement is very proud and proves that Indonesia is able to beat two superpowers who take turns controlling the overall champion status of the Olympics.

“I am very happy, Alhamdulillah, thank you Indonesian people. This sport is new, but it is given trust and can be proven by winning gold. (I) am grateful for this achievement, and I am proud of this achievement,” said Veddriq in the official statement of NOC Indonesia.

“This gold medal is a blessing and it is also the result of hard work, effort, dedication of all the coaching team, athletes, family friends who have given prayers and support. This is also a gift for Indonesia on its 79th birthday,” added the rock climber who was born on March 11, 1997.

Lifter Rizki Juniansyah continued Indonesia’s pride in the men’s 73kg weightlifting competition series that lasted until Friday (9/8/2024) early morning WIB. He broke the Olympic record in the clean and jerk lift of 199kg. With a total lift of 354kg, the athlete from Banten beat Weeraphon Wichuma (Thailand, 346kg) and Bozhidar Andreev (Bulgaria, 344kg).

This achievement also proves that Rizki’s progress is not a coincidence. Previously, Indonesia relied on Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Rahmat Erwin Abdullah in this class. However, Rizki defeated his compatriot at the 2024 World Weightlifting Championships to win a ticket to Paris.

Rizki’s golden record also surpassed his seniors who had previously presented Olympic medals for Indonesia, including Lisa Rumbewas, Sri Indriyani, Winarni, Eko Yuli Irawan, Triyatno, Sri Wahyuni ​​Agustiani, Windy Cantika Aisah, and Rahmat Erwin Abdullah.

Only 21 years old, Rizki is also the youngest Indonesian athlete to win Olympic gold. “Alhamdulillah, I am very grateful to Allah SWT to be able to make history, the first gold medal for weightlifting at the Olympics. This is for Indonesian weightlifting,” said Rizki.