It was a golden day in Paris for the Southeast Asian nation, where speed climber Veddriq Leonardo and weightlifter Rizki Juniansyah won.
Speed climber Veddriq Leonardo handed Indonesia its first Olympic gold outside badminton after sprinting up a 15-metre wall to beat his Chinese rival by just two-hundredths of a second.
Veddriq's gold was Indonesia's first at the Paris Olympics, and its ninth since the country made its Olympic debut in 1952.
“I feel very happy, very joyful,” said the 27-year-old. “My heart raced [in the competition]But I stayed focused and finished it.”
Veddriq scaled the wall in a personal best of 4.75 seconds to take first place ahead of China's Wu Peng. His coach broke down in tears and Indonesian Sport Climbing Federation president Yenni Wahid said she was “so moved I could cry.”
As Indonesians celebrated Veddriq's Olympic victory, 21-year-old Rizki Juniansyah delivered the country's second gold of the day by winning the men's 73kg weightlifting competition.
Juniansyah lifted a total of 354kg during the competition, winning gold with an Olympic record 199kg to beat rivals from Thailand and Bulgaria.
Rizki said he was “happy, proud and very excited” to win his first gold medal and thanked Indonesians for their support.
“There are no words that can describe how I feel,” the weightlifter was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post. “You saw me crying because it was such an emotional and beautiful experience and I am already looking forward to the future.”
Speed climbing power
The Southeast Asian archipelago has emerged as a speed climbing powerhouse, breaking records and winning multiple medals at major international events.
Veddriq, who was born in Pontianak in Indonesian Borneo and took up the sport after joining a student nature group that also did wall climbing, has won the World Cup in the sport three times and was the first speed climber to break the five-second barrier.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo was among the first to congratulate him on the golden inscription on the X, saying the speed climber's achievement had brought “new pride to Indonesia.”
Until now, the country had only won gold in badminton.
“There are no words that can express what we feel. Praise be to God,” Veddriq’s mother Rosita Hamzah told broadcaster Kompas TV.
Sport climbing made its debut at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but speed climbing was controversially combined with bouldering and hard climbing disciplines, which require completely different skills. Paris marks the first time speed climbing specialists have competed in their own area of expertise.
“I am proud, very proud. The emotion was explosive,” Kristoforus Bagaskoro, a 41-year-old creative manager from the capital Jakarta, told AFP news agency.
“We should promote this sport more and help it develop further.”
Sam Watson of the United States took bronze ahead of Iran's Reza Alipour in the climb for third place, clocking a world record time of 4.74 seconds.
