On winning that Olympic medal

Thus far, Indonesia has won 1 silver and 1 bronze in London 2012. The silver medal is contributed by Triyatno in Men’s 69kg Weightlifting. The bronze is from Eko Yuli Irawan in Men’s 62kg Weightlifting. I’m proud. These events may not gain too much attention (if any), but I remember Weightlifting always contributes something to Indonesia’s medal counts in Olympics. Congratulations again J

Triyatno's story (L) on The Jakarta Post
Eko Yuli Irawan's story (R) on The Jakarta Post

Now, the real disappointment for me must come from Badminton. This has been the sport other than football (soccer) that my family follows religiously (I guess my dad also likes Boxing on a late Sunday morning). My dad, brother, uncles, and cousins used to play for hours on Sundays (or table tennis which is very Asian I realize). It was a good time.

Badminton was first introduced as an official Olympic sport in 1992. That year, Indonesia won Gold and Bronze medals in Men’s Singles (Alan Budikusuma), Gold in Women’s Singles (Susi Susanti), and Silver in Men’s Doubles (Eddy Hartono and Rudy Gunawan). The Olympics after that (1996 – 2008), we won 4 Gold, 4 Silver, and 4 Bronze Medals. I think it’s pretty awesome. But I know our achievement has been slowly declining. (Total medal count is 30 for China and 18 for Indonesia)

I’m also aware that the competition is FIERCE. Players from China (i.e. Lin Dan) and Malaysia (i.e. Chong Wei Lee) have been really great (They won Gold and Silver in Men’s Singles – Beijing ‘08). In London 2012, they beat Taufik Hidayat (Gold – Athens ’04) and Simon Santoso, respectively.  Prior to their matches, my dad and I already felt that they are going to be tough matches and we would most likely lose. I think it’s great to be the other position, to be feared or to be the favorite. But, time after time after time in any competitions, there have been moments where the least favorite one, the “weaker” one, comes through and becomes the champion. It’s not this year for Indonesia.

I feel that we don’t have that regeneration where talented young men and women should be properly trained. Well, I’m not even sure how they train for tournament nowadays. I won’t say much, especially with the disqualification of our Women’s Doubles (here from NPR). It’s embarrassing, but then again I have never represented Indonesia in the Olympics, so no place to judge. There is still one more game though, Mixed Doubles, for Bronze. We just have to wait and see.

Taufik Hidayat (L) and Simon Santoso (R)
London 2012 - Badminton

I don't want to look at things pessimistically (one thing from the book that I'm currently reading: Abundace - The Future is Better Than You Think, but it's for another post) and I still do believe that we have the potential and the urge to be #1 again (if we ever did?). So let’s go! Let’s get better!

“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” - Samuel Beckett