Weightlifting Refuses To Fail On Seventh Chance To Appear At The Olympics

Indonesia's mainstay weightlifter Rizky Juniansyah (left) underwent a training session for the 2024 Paris Olympics at Mess Kwini PB PABSI, Jakarta, Friday (14/6/2024). (Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA The weightlifting sport refused to bring home a gold medal for Indonesia when they had the seventh chance to appear in the Olympics in the middle of this year.

The 33rd edition of the Olympics will take place in Paris, France, from July 26 to August 11. The weightlifting sport also has three athletes who make sure they qualify for the grand sporting event.

Secretary General of the Indonesian Weightlifting Association (PABSI) Djoko Pramono said that this year was the time to pass their previous six participations.

"We want to succeed there and be better. This is our seventh Olympics. Hopefully we can get a medal again and better," said Djoko after receiving a visit from Chef de Mission (CdM) of the Indonesian contingent Anindya Bakrie at the weightlifting National Training Center at Mess Kwini, Jakarta, on Friday, June 14.

The first weightlifting sport to send athletes to the Olympics was in Sydney 2000. Five consecutive editions after that, this sport always has representatives in this quadrennial event.

In addition, they also always bring home medals every time they participate. In total there are seven silver medals and eight bronze medals that they present for Indonesia.

The details at the 2000 Sydney Olympics were one silver and two bronze, one silver in Athens 2004, three bronze in Beijing 2008, two silver and one bronze in London 2012, two silver in Rio 2016, and finally one silver and two bronze in Tokyo 2020.

To be able to surpass the achievements above is certainly not an easy task for PABSI. In addition to continuing to encourage extra training for athletes, all kinds of specific things regarding their needs must also be really considered.

Djoko said that his party had reminded CdM Indonesia to always be ready to meet the needs of athletes according to the recommendations of the federation while in Paris later such as the massager (pijit carpentry) companion of the athletes who had been asked.

"So I have reminded you that on August 5 we entered Paris. The [masseur] people I asked for help were attached [with athletes]. We want to remind everyone to be ready," he said.

The three lifters who have confirmed themselves to appear in Paris later are Rizki Juniansyah (class 73 kilograms), Eko Yuli Irawan (class 61 kilograms), and Nurul Akmal (class +81 kilograms).

The first name is one of the favorites to bring home a gold medal from France later. The 20-year-old athlete currently holds a world record for total force in his class.

Eko Yuli, who has appeared at the Olympics for the fifth time, is also still pursuing a gold medal. This is his last chance to make that dream come true after he had previously won two silver medals and two bronze medals.

The weightlifting team plans to fly to France on July 21 or five days before the opening of the Olympics. They will head to Montpellier to continue preparations there before entering the athletes' village on August 4.

From the schedule on the official website of the Paris Olympics, weightlifting will be contested from Wednesday, 7 to Sunday, August 11. The series of matches will take place at the South Paris Arena 6.