2022 Asian Games and Problems of Regeneration and Future of Indonesian Athletes

The Indonesian contingent attended the opening ceremony of the 2022 Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Hangzhou, China, Saturday (23/9/2023). (Between/Hafidz Mubarak A/pras)

JAKARTA - Athlete regeneration is often in the spotlight in Indonesia. There are many assumptions that the stagnation of sporting performance is due to a lack of regeneration in the athlete. Regeneration tends to be late, making the gap between senior and junior athletes quite large.

At that distance, a decline in performance often occurs. Yayuk Basuki, a former Indonesian tennis player, was also concerned about the lack of stock of national athletes when he was a member of Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR) in charge of sports.

He admitted that many sports disciplines had difficulty creating new athletes to regenerate athletes because they were hampered by the National Sports System Law (UU SKN). Yayuk said this several months before Indonesia hosted the 2018 Asian Games.

Regeneration was again in the spotlight when Indonesia sent 413 athletes to compete in the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China. Of these names, there are many senior athletes such as Eko Yuli Irawan (34 years) and Maria Londa (32 years) who competed in the Bamboo Curtain Country.

General Chair of the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI/NOC Indonesia) Raja Sapta Oktohari at the launch of the Indonesian National Olympic Academy (NOA) at the KOI Jakarta Office, Monday (18/9/2023). (Antara/Arnidhya Nur Zhafira)

Chairman of the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI), Raja Sapta Oktohari, did not deny the difficulty of regenerating athletes in Indonesia. Okto admits that athlete regeneration is difficult because it often clashes with several interests, including parental approval.

Currently, according to Okto, the athlete regeneration process is carried out through scouting or talent search from an early age. But then this scouting process is often hindered by the parents themselves.

"That's why now the emphasis is on the scouting process or looking for talent. However, this talent search process is often hampered by parents. Sometimes parents do not allow their children to continue their careers as athletes. Even if the child likes it, what if the parents don't support it?" said Okto when talking with VOI.

The decision of parents not to support their child's career as an athlete can actually be understood in Indonesia. The athlete profession in Indonesia is still considered less attractive. The clarity of a career in sports is still widely questioned. Moreover, we often hear about athletes who are left behind after retirement.

The Athlete Gap Has Been Predicted Since 2019

Eko Yuli Irawan is Indonesia's mainstay weightlifter. For Eko, flying to Hangzhou means completing his participation in the Asian Games four times. Previously, Eko Yuli competed in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou (China), then in 2014 Incheon (South Korea), and finally in Jakarta-Palembang 2018.

In the first two editions of his participation in the Asian Games, Eko Yuli managed to bring home a bronze medal, before finally winning gold at the 2018 Asian Games. All of his achievements were scored in the 62 kg class.

But seeing that he is no longer young, it is not impossible that Eko Yuli Irawan will withdraw from weightlifting. Regarding Eko's successor, there are actually several names who have the potential to continue his achievements. Among them are Ricko Saputra and Rahmat Erwin Abdullah.

Eko Yuli Irawan performs a snatch in the 2023 SEA Games men's 61 kilogram class match at the Taekwondo Hall, Olympic Complex, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Saturday (13/5/2023). (Antara/Muhammad Adimaja/aww)

Ricko Saputra, 23, recently won two gold medals when appearing in the 61 kg class of Group A of the first edition of the 2023 IWF Grand Prix which took place at the Pabexpo Exhibition Complex, Cuba, last June. Meanwhile, Rahmat Erwin Abdullah took home gold from the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships in Saudi Arabia.

However, the General Manager of the Indonesian Weightlifting Association (PB PABSI)'s Head of Development and Achievement Division, Hadi Wihardja, admitted that the gap between Eko and his successor had actually been predicted since 2019. But he is grateful that now the achievements achieved by Ricko and Rahmat are also encouraging.

"Actually, the matter of regeneration, especially in weightlifting, has been predicted since 2019. However, as long as Eko's performance is still capable, we will still rely on him. "There is Ricko Saputra who is now Eko's cover," Hadi told VOI.

Lack of Early-Age Competition

Regarding regeneration which is difficult to carry out, Hadi Wihardja said that funding problems and the lack of early childhood championships in the regions played a role. In fact, this former national lifter said, the interest in weightlifting is quite high.

Currently, although weightlifting events are often held, they are only held in big cities on the island of Java, making it difficult for regional athletes to take part. This makes it difficult for junior athletes outside Java to compete due to financial constraints.

“We need regional championships. This weightlifting championship should be spread to regions, for example, the eastern and western regions. "So, for example, there are athletes from eastern Indonesia who can still participate," added the former weightlifter who appeared at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Illustration - Indonesia has a serious lack of early childhood competitions, which means that the regeneration of national-level athletes is slow. (Antara/Kornelis Kaha)

Apart from that, Hadi emphasized that the development of athletes in the regions is also not optimal. In fact, according to him, good regional development will produce national athletes in the future.

Sukraj Singh also complained about the minimal regeneration of athletes. He is a former track and field athlete from North Sumatra who holds the national record for men's shot put in Indonesia. Currently, he still holds the shot put record of 16.87 meters which was recorded since 2000.

This means that the record has not been broken for 23 years. Instead of being proud, Sukraj actually regrets that this happened. Because his record lasted for more than two decades due to insufficient athlete regeneration.

Sukraj really hopes that his record will be broken by young athletes. However, this is difficult to realize due to the lack of competition at an early age. In fact, according to him, the more competition there is from an early age, the faster the pursuit of achievement will be.

Sukraj believes that Indonesia actually has a lot of hidden potential, but because there are still few championships, not many people can participate. This is what makes it difficult for the next generation of athletics to develop.

“When kids know there will be competition, they will practice. Well, they will catch up to the competition. So that they are encouraged to achieve higher and higher achievements. With this competition, we as coaches and people who work in the world of athletics will know. "It seems that many children want to excel in athletics," said the athlete who brought home a silver medal from the 1999 SEA Games while attending the Indonesian Student Athletic Championship (SAC) in North Sumatra in November 2022.