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year ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Indonesia'€™s Satlak Prima sports task force has asked national sports organizations to pick up the pace in their preparation of athletes. The task force has offered up detailed training regimes in order to fulfill its two-gold target at the Olympics.

'€œWe are pushing them [sports organizations] to do extra work, especially in deciding the number of try-out events and the length of training camps, in order to elevate the performance of our athletes,'€ task force chief Suwarno told the media after attending a meeting with 12 sports organizations in Jakarta.

The participating organizations included the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI); Indonesian Volleyball Association (PBVSI); Indonesian Taekwondo Association (TI); Indonesian Athletics Federation (PASI); Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Bodybuilding Association (PABBSI); Indonesian Equestrian and Horse Racing Association (PORDASI), Indonesian Rowing Association (PODSI); Indonesian Judo Association (PJSI) and the Indonesian Swimming Association (PRSI).  

'€œWith two gold medals expected by the government, we don'€™t want them to work in a business-as-usual way,'€ Suwarno said, adding that preparation for the games was also part of the nation'€™s journey to the next Asian Games that Indonesia will host in 2018.

Suwarno said that those athletes deemed to have promising prospects for the upcoming Olympics would be allowed to take part in more try-outs and to undergo longer training camps.

'€œFor example, the ones who used to participate in two try-outs, now they are allowed to take up to five try-outs. Also, the ones who spent only one-and-a-half month in a training camp, now they are allowed to extend their time in camp up to six months.

'€œAll costs are on us, Satlak Prima. That'€™s our service for the athletes,'€ Suwarno said. He refused to disclose the financial budget for such a program.

He further said that his organization would offer support in the form of providing training equipment and supplements, as well as foreign trainers '€œif necessary'€.

'€œWe have started dealing with all the papers needed to procure training equipment for 2016, so it will be available by January of next year,'€ said Suwarno.

The government has set a two-gold medal target for the Rio Games, with badminton being the most likely to bring success compared with other sports.

According to the Badminton World Federation, Indonesian shuttlers are ranked number two in the world in the men'€™s doubles with Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan and also number two in the world in the mixed doubles with Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir.

'€œAs for other sports, we'€™re looking for surprises, maybe from beach volleyball. Who knows?'€ Suwarno said.

Sadly for Indonesia, the 2012 London Olympics saw the nation'€™s shuttlers fail to win a gold medal for the first time since the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Weightlifting was the only sport to contribute medals for the Indonesian delegation.