Jakarta (ANTARA News) - After the 2018 Asian Games, the Indonesian government is ready to prepare the athletes to face 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

As part of the moves, the government will assign the athletes to undergo training and various test matches.

"The athletes will stay longer abroad than in Indonesia. This is a new policy. They will not return to the country (to follow training abroad) if necessary," Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi said in Jakarta on Monday.

By having their training abroad, Indonesian athletes in various branches of Olympic sports are expected to have great opportunity to face world champions in trial tournaments.

Such activities are expected to make athletes more motivated to surpass the achievements of world champions and continue to be encouraged to improve their ability to reach highest achievements in the Olympics. Match after match will also be expected to strengthen mentally competing Indonesian athletes.

"This plan will surely lead to the budget. So there will be ministerial regulations related to budgeting for preparation for the Olympics, including for training of the young athletes and improving the quality of trainers, judges and trainers to meet the international standards," Nahrawi added.

Reflecting on the success at the 2018 Asian Games, where Indonesia surpassed the target by winning 31 gold medals, the government wants such achievement to be repeated at the 2020 Olympics.

The achievement of the 2018 Asian Games athletes will certainly be evaluated. Out of 31 gold medals earned, there were nine golds that came from the Olympic sports branch, namely one gold from weightlifting, rowing, karate and tennis and each of two gold from badminton and rock climbing.

"It will be more efficient if not all budgets are distributed to all sports when focusing on the Olympics. So there will be an evaluation of Asian Gaems 2018, whichever medal acquisition is not yet on target. So there will be consequences that we carry together," the minister said.

The 2020 Summer Olympics will be held in mid-2020 in Tokyo. The world multi-branch tournament with the theme "Discover Tomorrow" competes 33 sports such as aquatic, badminton, boxing, rugby, horse riding, athletics, soccer, tennis, rowing, weightlifting, karate, bicycle racing and badminton.

Reported by Michael Siahaan
Edited by Yashinta Difa Pramudyani, Yoseph Hariyadi

Reporter: Yashinta Difa Pramudyani
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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