Jakarta. Sports Minister Dito Ariotedjo recently said that Indonesia’s outgoing leader Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had spared no effort to advance the country’s sports achievements over the past decade of his leadership.

Jokowi -- who will step down as president on Sunday -- has led the country since 2014. According to Dito, Indonesia sees growing sports power under Jokowi. The country’s athletes have also brought home medals from various sports events over the past decades, including the Olympics, SEA Games, as well as Asian Games. Countless athletes have also excelled at national championships.

“Over the past decade of Jokowi’s leadership, we can see how all out he is in advancing the national sports,” Dito said in Solo, as reported by the state news agency Antara.

“We have also seen how athletes of different sports have made achievements that exceed our expectations and even make history,” Dito said.

Over the past 10 years, Jokowi has renovated and built various sports facilities across the archipelagic Indonesia. The global football organization FIFA has also set up its Jakarta office. FIFA even inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) to improve the country’s stadium infrastructure and security standards. FIFA has also provided a grant worth $85.6 billion to construct PSSI training center in Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara -- another major project for the Jokowi government.

Some football stadiums have also met the sports’ global organization FIFA’s standards, including Jakarta's Gelora Bung Karno stadium. The government is also currently building a youth training center in East Jakarta's Cibubur to prepare athletes for the Olympics. Earlier this year, Jokowi also launched the construction of a paralympic training center in Karanganyar worth about Rp 409 billion (nearly $26.3 million).

Jokowi will soon hand over the presidential baton to his successor Prabowo Subianto. According to Dito, the government commits to better manage the country’s sports achievements. He said: “I think Indonesia will do even better in sports.”

Indonesia has become a household name in the international badminton scene. Badminton veterans Liliyana Natsir and Tontowi Ahmad clinched the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics for the mixed doubles category. Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu also gave Indonesia its first gold medal in the women’s doubles category at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Indonesia also clinched 2 gold medals and 1 bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Speed climber Veddriq Leonardo and weightlifter Rizki Juniansyah were the Indonesian gold medalists this year. Veddriq also became the first Indonesian non-badminton Olympic gold medalist. Women’s singles badminton player Gregoria Mariska Tunjung won a bronze medal.

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