Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's Youth and Sports Minister Dito Ariotedjo ensured that bonuses for medal-winning athletes at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games will soon be handed over in one or two weeks.

"It has been (confirmed). This is just waiting for the schedule of Mr. President (Joko Widodo) because he was abroad," Minister Ariotedjo remarked here on Wednesday.

However, Ariotedjo did not mention the amount or form of bonuses that will be received by the outstanding Indonesian athletes at Asia's largest sports event.

Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Human Empowerment and Culture Muhadjir Effendy and Chef de Mission (CdM) Indonesia for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, Basuki Hadimuljono, stated that the medalists would get houses as a prize from the Indonesian government.

The Indonesian Contingent at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games won seven gold, 11 silver, and 18 bronze medals. With these results, Indonesia ranked 13th in the final standings.

Indonesia's achievement of gold in Hangzhou was considered the best apart from when Indonesia hosted the competition at home in 2018 when it clinched 31 gold medals at that time.

In the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, Indonesia won four gold, four silver, and seven bronze medals, and it ranked 14th in the 2002 Busan Asian Games.

On the other hand, Minister Ariotedjo stated that the government and other parties are currently shifting their focus to preparing athletes for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

He stated that the athletes confirmed to qualify for the Olympics would soon be trained at national training centers, and each sports federation will form their own task force that would travel to Paris next year.

"It is one task force per sport. For instance, badminton has formed a task force for preparing for the Olympics, led by the secretary general (of the federation). Every sport (association) has started to focus on it," he remarked.

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Translator: Arnidhya Z, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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