T

he silver medal won by woman weightlifter Sri Wahyuni Agustiani in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Sunday is expected to inspire and spur the other athletes representing Indonesia in the event into greater action to earn more awards.

The Bandung-born lass, who turns 22 on Aug. 13, lifted her way to the silver medal win in her Olympic debut. The low-profile Sri, who dedicated her success in earning the distinction of becoming the country’s first medalist in the ongoing Olympics to her parents, coaches and the whole of Indonesia, is also entitled to the alluring bonus of Rp 2 billion (US$151,500) as a reward from the government.

The Youth and Sports Ministry has dangled a carrot in the form of cash prizes for the competing Indonesian Olympians in Rio, with a gold medalist getting Rp 5 billion, a silver medalist Rp 2 billion and a bronze medalist Rp 1 billion.

Sri was the second Indonesian woman lifter to win an Olympic medal, following in the footsteps of compatriot Lisa Rumbewas, who chalked up such a feat in Sydney in 2000 and four years later in Athens. On each occasion, Lisa grabbed a silver.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo through his official Twitter account said: “Our woman lifter Sri Wahyuni won a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics. The people of Indonesia are proud of her.”

Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi, who watched Sri flex her muscles in Rio, hoped to see a Sri Wahyuni effect on the Indonesian team, which materialized on Monday thanks to male lifter Eko Yuli Wirawan, who snatched another silver medal for Indonesia.

The success of Sri and Eko has further confirmed Indonesia’s medal-winning Olympic tradition in weightlifting, since Lisa’s 2000 and 2004 Games wins, and men’s lifters Triyatno and Eko, both winning medals in the next two Olympics in Beijing and London

High hopes for medals in Rio are also pinned on our 10 badminton players. In fact they are the country’s greatest hopefuls for medals given Indonesia’s solid historic Olympic tradition in this world’s fastest racket sport. Indonesia has collected a total of 18 medals, six of them golds, in badminton since the sport was included in the Olympics in 1992.

Susi Susanti and her fiancé, now husband, Alan Budikusuma, wrote a golden chapter in the history of national sports by becoming the country’s first athletes to win Olympic gold medals. Susi romped home with the women’s singles crown, while Alan took the men’s singles title after beating compatriot Ardy Wiranata in a memorable all-Indonesian final.

The country suffered a severe setback in 2012 as its best shuttlers returned home completely empty-handed, with not even a bronze medal won.

With veteran doubles specialist Hendra, 32, now partnering with Mohammad Ahsan, and three-time All England mixed doubles champions Liliyana Natsir and Tontowi Ahmad spearheading the squad, Indonesia’s chances of emulating yesteryears’ Olympic glories is still there in Rio.  

Hendra may recollect the golden memories of 2008 with Markis to make a repeat this time around before hanging up his racket. Hendra and Ahsan, 29, were the 2011 and 2013 world champions and All England’s 2014 gold medalists. They are currently ranked third in the world.  

The reigning Asian Games women’s doubles champs Greysia Polii and Nitya Krishinda Maheswari stand an equal chance if their current third global ranking is anything to go by. Greysia, in particular, certainly wants to wipe out the bleak memory of 2012 in London when her and then partner Meiliana Jauhari were disqualified in a group preliminary match for deliberately conceding defeat to South Korean pair Ha Jung-eun /Kim Min-jung in order to avoid meeting China’s top seeds and world number one pair Wang Xiaoli/Yu Yang in the quarterfinals.

Also don’t underestimate the young mixed doubles duo of Debby Susanto/Praveen Jordan, who, against all odds, won the All England title last year. The pair has developed into a power to be reckoned with and might emerge as a dark horse.

Another Indonesian athlete deserving attention as a medal-winning prospect is Maria Natalia Londa, the women’s long jump gold medalist in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, where she jumped 6.55 meters. But her personal best jump is 6.70 meters, which she recorded in last year’s SEA Games in Singapore — a jump that earned her gold in the event and at the same time qualified her for an automatic ticket to the Olympics.

The 25-year-old Maria will find the going tough in Rio, that’s for sure, as she will meet such elite jumpers as Americans Brittney Reese and Janay DeLoach, who won gold and bronze respectively in London four years ago. Reese’s gold-medal winning jump was 7.12 meters and DeLoach leaped 6.89 meters. If only Maria could duplicate what she did in Singapore, in all probability, a bronze is as good as hers. And should she manage to notch a leap of 7 meters or so, she would almost be a shoo-in for silver taking into account the absence of Russia’s Yelena Sokolova, the silver medal winner in London with a jump of 7.07 meters.  

Other Indonesian Olympians, it seems, have very slim chances for medals. They can, at least, use this rare opportunity as a stepping stone for a better performance in the next Olympics, should they be picked to represent the country again.

The government has set itself the target of winning three gold medals in Rio, a realistic one given the years of rigorous preparations for the athletes shortlisted for the Games. Let’s cherish the memory of past sports heroes and heroines who lifted Indonesia to the Olympic medal winning club and never cast these pioneers into oblivion.  
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The writer is a senior sports journalist.