According to Effendy, the deployment of athletes to the multisport event is not just based on their potential to grab medals but it also considers the athletes' potential to sustain their good performance in the future.
SEA Games 2023 is not the last event that Indonesia will be participating in but there are some other international events that need to be prepared for, he said.
These events include the Asian Games and Olympics which became the main targets within the National Sports Grand Design (DBON).
Based on the grand design, SEA Games serves as an intermediary target. The biannual multisports event would become a stepping stone for athletes in achieving higher, he said.
Therefore, he noted, the government will involve several athletes which it deems to be promising in the 2023 SEA Games even though they may not be able to win a medal.
The athletes' involvement in the event would give them the experience to participate in an international event.
Since the 2021 SEA Games in Vietnam, the ministry has also deployed promising young athletes, in addition to athletes that have the potential to win medals.
As a result, the number of athletes deployed for SEA Games in Vietnam was drastically reduced as compared to the same event in the Philippines in 2019. The ministry conducted stringent selection toward athletes that it deployed.
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Translator: Muhammad Ramdan, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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