Indonesia Secures Five Gold Medals, Surpassing Asian Games Target

Indonesia finished the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 with 5 gold, 11 silver, and 23 bronze medals. This achievement surpassed the target of four gold medals set before departure to Japan.

The five gold medals came from four sports, such as badminton through the men’s team and men’s doubles Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin, weightlifting through Rahmat Erwin Abdullah, sport climbing through Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi, and archery through Nurisa Dian Ashrifah.

The gold medal in archery marked a historic achievement as it is Indonesia’s first-ever gold medal in this sport during the country’s participation in the Asian Games.

Minister of Youth and Sports Erick Thohir expressed his appreciation for the efforts of all athletes, coaches, sports federations, the Indonesian Olympic Committee, and the Chef de Mission of Indonesia’s contingent who supported the Indonesian team.

“These five gold medals were not the effort of one party, but the result of a sports ecosystem that works together,” stated the Minister, as quoted from the Ministry of Youth and Sports website on Monday (10/05).

According to Erick, this achievement shows the importance of setting targets based on a measurable assessment of sports and athletes’ potential. This approach is necessary to ensure that athlete development and government support can focus more on sports with strong medal prospects.

The Minister of Youth and Sports viewed Indonesia’s success at the 2026 Asian Games as an important foundation to strengthen national sports development. Moreover, all of Indonesia’s gold medals came from sports included in the country’s 21 priority sports and contested in the Olympic Games, namely archery, badminton, sport climbing, and weightlifting.

“Our five gold medals came from sports that are contested in the Olympic Games. This is important. It means we have a foundation that must be maintained and developed,” said Erick.

For that reason, the achievement in the Asian Games should not only be viewed as an achievement at the Asian level, but also as evaluation material to prepare Indonesian athletes to compete at higher-level competitions, including the 2028 Olympic Games.

Aside from the gold medal-winning sports, several sports that reached the final and secured silver medals were also considered to have strong potential for further development. These results will form part of the Government’s evaluation together with all sports stakeholders in strengthening the athlete development strategy toward the 2027 SEA Games and the 2028 Olympic Games. (Ministry of Youth and Sports Public Relations/UPI/UND-Ministry of State Secretariat Public Relations) (TC/MMB)