At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Indonesia made a memorable milestone by winning its second Gold Medal, marking an important step forward in the overall rankings.
This achievement not only raised Indonesia’s position to 28th in the medal tally, but also affirmed the strong development of the country’s sports in the international arena. This success has ignited pride and hope for Indonesian athletes and people, proving that tireless efforts and outstanding talent can create memorable victories on the Olympic stage.
The latest Gold Medal of Indonesian sports goes to athlete Rizki Juniansyah in the men’s 73kg weightlifting category.
Rizki Juniansyah brought home the second gold medal for Indonesia (Photo: AFP).
The Indonesian weightlifter excelled against his Chinese rival Shi Zhiyong – the 73kg champion at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 69kg champion at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The Chinese weightlifter took the lead after the snatch with 165kg, 10kg more than his nearest rival. Shi Zhiyong then tried to break his own Olympic record of 191kg but failed all three times. This result caused the Chinese weightlifter to be marked as having failed the test (DNF).
Juniansyah made an impressive feat at the 2024 Paris Olympics when he successfully lifted 155kg in the snatch and continued his spectacular breakthrough in the clean and jerk with 199kg, reaching a total of 354kg, winning the prestigious Gold Medal.
This is not only Indonesia’s first Olympic Gold Medal in weightlifting, but also marks an important turning point, as the country has previously won only 15 Silver and Bronze Medals in this sport over many Olympics. Juniansyah could not hide his emotions when sharing: “I am very happy, proud and emotional to win the first Gold Medal in my career. Thank you to the Indonesian fans who have always supported me. You saw me cry because I was so moved by this experience. I hope to have more success in the future.”
This victory is Indonesia’s second Gold Medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, after athlete Veddriq Leonardo’s victory in sport climbing. With this impressive achievement, the Indonesian sports delegation has risen to 28th place in the overall rankings with 2 Gold Medals and 1 Bronze Medal.
Veddriq Leonardo is the first athlete to win an Olympic gold medal for Indonesia.
The Philippines is currently leading in Southeast Asia with 2 Gold Medals and 2 Bronze Medals.
The men’s 73kg weightlifting event also saw the success of Thai weightlifter Weeraphon Wichuma, who won a Silver Medal with a total lift of 346kg.
This is Thailand’s third Silver Medal at the 2024 Olympics but they also have 1 Gold Medal (taekwondo) and 2 Bronze Medals.
