Indonesia brought home two gold medals at the Paris Olympic Games on Thursday, with wins in speed climbing and men’s weightlifting.
Veddriq Leonardo won a gold medal in the men’s speed climbing, the first win for Indonesia at the Games, and later that day, Rizki Juniansyah won the men’s 73kg Olympic weightlifting title, bringing another gold home.
Juniansyah lifted a total of 354kg, setting the Olympic record in the clean and jerk as China’s reigning champion Shi Zhiyong failed to finish.
He lifted 155kg in the snatch to put himself in a good position and then strained every sinew in the second round of the clean and jerk with a 199kg lift that secured gold.
“I am happy, proud and very emotional winning this, my first gold medal and creating history. Thank you to all the Indonesians for their support, to those who are watching at home,” Juniansyah told reporters.
“There are no words that can describe how I am feeling. You saw me crying because it’s been such an emotional and beautiful experience and I am already looking towards the future.”
Leonardo’s win gave speed-climbing powerhouse Indonesia their first Olympic gold in a sport other than badminton, and only their ninth since the country’s first appearance at the Games in 1952.
Leonardo improved his time with each race starting with the quarter-final, ultimately beating China’s Wu Peng by two-hundredths of a second with a personal best of 4.75 seconds.
“I feel very happy, very joyful,” Leonardo said.
“My heart raced [in the competition], but I stayed focused and finished it.”
He is a three-time World Cup champion and the first speed climber to break the five-second barrier.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo took to social media platform X to congratulate Leonardo.
“The Paris 2024 Olympics has brought new pride to Indonesia, thanks to Veddriq Leonardo, our proud speed climbing athlete, who secured Indonesia’s first gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics,” he wrote.
Sport climbing made its Olympics debut in Tokyo in 2021 but speed was controversially combined with the boulder and lead disciplines, which require a completely different skill set.
ABC/Reuters
