Jakarta. Indonesian track cyclist, Bernard Benyamin van Aert, has secured a spot in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Bernard qualified for the men's Omnium track, according to official information released by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) on Monday.

"After a 20-year wait, Indonesia has once again qualified a track cycling athlete for the Olympics, this time in the omnium event," said Raja Sapta Oktohari, President of the Indonesian Olympic Committee (NOC Indonesia), to reporters on Tuesday.

In the 2004 Athens Olympics, track cycling athlete Santia Tri Kusuma qualified for the women's points race event.

"We hope Bernard's qualification for Paris 2024 will motivate athletes from other sports to follow in his footsteps. The struggle is not over; they must remain enthusiastic and show their best results to ensure that Indonesia continues to shine and the Red and White flag continues to fly high at Paris 2024," added Oktohari.

Meanwhile, Dadang Haries Poernomo, the Head Coach of the Indonesian National Cycling Team, explained that Bernard has gone through a long journey to accumulate qualification points for Paris 2024 since 2023.

In 2023, Bernard competed in the UCI Nations Cup series held in Jakarta, Egypt, and Canada. Unfortunately, Bernard was eliminated in the qualifiers and did not earn any points.

At the 2023 Asian Championships, the 27-year-old cyclist finished fifth, failing to earn any points. Then, at the World Championships in Glasgow, he finished 20th.

However, Bernard made significant progress on the Road to Paris 2024 after winning silver at the Asian Track Championships in New Delhi, India.

"Then Bernard competed again in the UCI Track Nations Cup and made it to the finals in all events, earning points. In Adelaide, he finished 15th, in Hong Kong 17th, and in the last event in Canada, he finished 11th. Thankfully, he qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics," explained Dadang.

With Bernard's qualification, the Indonesian team has officially qualified 11 athletes from eight sports for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Besides Bernard, there are two archers, Arif Dwi Pangestu and Diananda Choirunisa, Fathur Gustafian in shooting, Rifda Irfanaluthfi in the all-around gymnastics event, Rio Waida in surfing, Rahmad Adi Mulyono and Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi in sports climbing, two weightlifters, Eko Yuli Irawan (61kg) and Rizky Juniansyah (73kg), and Memo in rowing.

Several other sports also have the opportunity to send athletes to Paris 2024, such as badminton, weightlifting, canoeing, rowing, athletics, swimming, judo, rock climbing, and football, which are still fighting for tickets to Paris 2024.

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