History Made At PON Papua, Host Wins 32 Gold And Will Continue To Increase

Papua Abiyu Rafi (center) shows the gold medal from the men's individual artistic gymnastics floor gymnastics (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Papua is not only trying to be a good host in organizing the 20th edition of the Papua National Sports Week (PON), but also trying to be successful in achieving medals.

Within two days after President Joko Widodo officially opened the Papua PON at the Lukas Enembe Stadium, Jayapura Regency on Saturday, October 2, the hosts have managed to show extraordinary achievements.

As of last Monday at 23.00 WIT, Papua has collected 32 gold, 15 silver, and 34 bronze. The score puts the hosts in second place in the provisional medal standings.

The first position is still occupied by DKI Jakarta with 38 gold, 25 silver, and 31 bronze achievements. While West Java is in third place with 29 gold, 26 silver, and 35 bronze.

East Java is in fourth place with 22 gold, 25 silver, and 20 bronze. Then Central Java packed 10 gold, 20 silver, and 21 bronze and was in the fifth position.

Bali is in sixth place with 10 gold, 20 silver, and 21 bronze. Riau is in seventh place with seven gold, eight silver, and five bronze.

The coffers of gold for the host are also predicted to continue to grow considering that there are still many sports that have not been contested.

With 32 gold currently, Papua has made history during its participation in the biggest sporting event in the country.

The Earth of Cenderawasih had never previously touched the thirties. The previous best achievement, as reported by Antara from the official website of PB PON Papua, occurred at PON XI 1985 in Jakarta.

At that time, Papua brought home 66 medals with details of 23 gold, 24 silver, and 26 bronze. Apart from 1985, Papua has also won 23 gold medals at PON XII in Jakarta in 1989 and PON XVI in South Sumatra in 2004.

This means that by hosting the PON, Papua's achievements in terms of medals also increase significantly. This amount is not much compared to the target that has been set.

Still reported from the official website of PB PON, the General Secretary of the Indonesian National Sports Committee (KONI) Papua Kenius Kogoya hopes that the medal coffers can continue to grow.

"The expected target is to get 84 gold medals in PON XX from 37 sports and 56 disciplines that we will participate in," said Kenius Kogoya.

This is a fantastic number when compared to Papua's achievements at the last PON event in 2016 in West Java, namely 17 gold, 19 silver and 32 bronze. At that time, Papua finished eighth in the medal standings.

Papua seems to be ready to give a lot to improve their achievements in this quadrennial sporting event. In fact, Papua Governor Lukas Enembe promised to provide a bonus of Rp1 billion for individual athletes who won gold medals.

Meanwhile, the gold winner in the team number will be given Rp650 million each. The individual silver winners are Rp500 million and the team winners are Rp325 million each. The bronze winners were Rp250 million for individuals and 162.5 million for the team numbers.

In addition, athletes without medals will also receive Rp10 million each. Papua, in the 20th edition of the biggest sporting event in Indonesia, mobilized 923 athletes.

The previous PON was also the same

For Papua, the score of 32 gold is history because it is the most during their participation in this quadrennial sports event.

However, don't forget that the previous PON hosts did too. For example, in 2008 PON when East Kalimantan was the host.

At that time, East Kalimantan had 116 gold, 111 silver, and 115 bronze and finished in the top three in the final medal standings.

This number is higher than the previous four years, where East Kalimantan only collected 19 gold, 28 silver, and 19 bronze at the 2004 PON in South Sumatra.

Even so when Riau hosted PON XVIII in 2012. Their medal tally increased with a collection of 43 gold, 39 silver, and 51 bronze. These results put the hosts in sixth position.

Compared to the 2008 PON, Riau at that time finished 10th with 16 gold, 14 silver, and 23 bronze.

Before Papua, PON XIX 2016 was held in West Java. As the host, Bumi Pasundan also succeeded in becoming the overall champion with 217 gold, 157 silver, and 157 bronze scores.

This number increased significantly from PON Riau 2012, West Java only won 99 gold, 79 silver, and 101 bronze and finished in second place in the final medal standings.

As a whole, PON Papua competes in 37 sports, 56 disciplines, and 681 match numbers. PON Papua will run until October 15, 2021.

In its implementation, PON Papua is held in four different clusters, namely Jayapura Regency and City, Mimika Regency, and Merauke Regency.