Main Focus Of Paris 2024 Olympics, KOI Chairman Asks For More Selective Sports: Don't Get Stuck With Too Many Events

The chairman of the KOI, Raja Sapta Oktohari, said that the 2024 Paris Olympics were the main focus. (Photo: Instagram @rajasaptaokto)

JAKARTA - Sports are asked to be selective in participating in various sporting events, both single-event and multi-event before the 2024 Paris Olympics. This selective attitude is needed because several sports will start qualifying for Paris starting in the nearest May.

"We shouldn't be stuck with so many events, so we forget to focus on the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will start the qualification process next month," said the chairman of the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) Raja Sapta Oktohari.

Citing the calendars of several international federations (IF), several sports that will start qualifying from May are judo and triathlon. There is even a schedule for the Olympic points hunt that coincides with the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

This has happened in bicycle racing during the Asian Games which coincided with the World Cup in Australia. Thus, this conflicting schedule becomes a fundamental challenge for each sport because they must determine the priority agenda and select potential athletes who can qualify for the Olympics to focus on qualifying.

"We can't anymore because we are busy chasing multi-event rankings, but our main target for the Olympics has been missed, so NF must know very well. Including sports and numbers that are sanctioned in multi-events. We must be able to take advantage of it," said Okto.

Earlier this month, the KOI Executive Board also approved the criteria and competition schedule for Paris 2024. At least 32 sports are included in the official Paris 2024 program.

Okto also said that he had established communication with the International Boxing Association (IBA) regarding the opportunities that Indonesia could take to host the boxing sport qualification.

Quoted from the official IBA website, boxing opens qualification for the Paris Olympics from January 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024. A total of 124 quota for the six women's event numbers and 124 quotas for the seven men's event numbers will be contested during this qualifying period.

"There are several interesting events that we want to bring here, namely the boxing qualification. This is still in the negotiation stage and we are trying to bid so that it can be held in Indonesia," said Oktohari.