Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia is poised to spring some surprises in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics in July, chairperson of the Indonesian National Olympics Committee (NOC), Raja Sapta Oktohari, has said.
"Like I have said multiple times earlier, Indonesia will surprise (during) this year's Olympics," he remarked in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Oktohari said that his optimism stems from the stunning performances of Indonesian athletes in the qualifying rounds for the 2024 Olympics. He highlighted the success of bike racer Bernard van Aert in securing a spot at the Olympics as the only representative of the Southeast Asian region for the men's omnium event.
"We also have gymnast Rifda (Irfanaluthfi) who will make her first Olympics appearance, lifter Eko Yuli (Irawan) who will compete at his fifth Olympics and have bagged many medals for Indonesia, and also surfer (Rio Waida) who has secured his second Olympics spot," he informed.
He said that all sports branches and related stakeholders have been making proper preparations for the Olympics.
"God Willing, all preparations have been running as expected," he added.
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The official noted that Indonesia still has opportunities to field more athletes at the Olympics in several sports, namely wall climbing, archery, athletics, aquatics, and judo. Regarding the medal target, he said the NOC will discuss it with the relevant stakeholders.
"We will meet with stakeholders to assess the number of gold, silver, and bronze medals Indonesia potentially achieves. We will discuss this matter with the Youth and Sports Ministry, Chef de Mission, and qualified sports (coaches)," he added.
Here is the list of non-badminton athletes from Indonesia who have secured a spot at the Olympics:
Diananda Choirunisa (archery)
- Arif Dwi Pangestu (archery)
- Fathur Gustafian (shooting)
- Rifda Irfanaluthfi (gymnastics)
- Rio Waida (surfing)
- Rahmad Adi Mulyono (wall climbing)
- Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi (wall climbing)
- Eko Yuli Irawan (lifter)
- Rizky Juniansyah (lifter)
- Memo (rowing)
- Bernard van Aert (cycling)
