The PON was opened by the 7th president, Joko Widodo, at Harapan Bangsa Stadium, Aceh, on September 9, 2024, and closed by the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, at North Sumatra Sports Center, Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, on September 20.
With the theme 'United, We Win,' the 21st PON was the largest in history, involving 13,000 athletes and 6,000 officials.
In terms of achievements and economic impact, the PON had a significant impact, especially on the host provinces, Aceh and North Sumatra.
However, it also involved several critical learnings that can be used as a reference for evaluating the implementation of Indonesia's biggest multi-sport event, especially since the upcoming PON will also be held in two provinces: West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara.
Achievements
The 2024 PON stands out as the sports week where the most number of records—113—were smashed in various events.
The new records set at the Aceh-North Sumatra PON, which featured 65 sports, were dominated by athletics, in which a total of 7 national records and 21 PON records were broken.
The records should offer hope, especially in preparing for the 2025 Thailand SEA Games and the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
West Java emerged as the overall champion at the 2024 PON, its third consecutive win in three editions, with 195 gold, 163 silver, and 182 bronze medals secured.
The province outperformed 38 other provinces in the medal tally.
The Jakarta contingent placed second with 184 golds, 150 silvers, and 145 bronze medals, while East Java finished third with 146 gold, 136 silver, and 143 bronze medals.
Host North Sumatra placed fourth with 79 gold, 59 silver, and 116 bronze medals, followed by Central Java with 71 gold medals, 74 silver medals, and 115 bronze medals.
Aceh, also a host of the event, finished sixth with 65 gold, 48 silver, and 79 bronze medals.
Both Aceh and North Sumatra recorded drastic improvements in terms of medal wins and rankings compared to the 2021 Papua PON.
In the 2021 PON, Aceh ranked 12th with 11 gold medals, 7 silver medals, and 11 bronze medals. North Sumatra was right below Aceh with 10 gold, 22 silver, and 23 bronze medals.
The 2024 PON boosted national economic growth in Q3 2024.
According to Statistics Indonesia, together with the Mandalika MotoGP event, the 2024 PON boosted Indonesia's economic growth in the third quarter thanks to the opening of the accommodation business sector.
The business sector also grew strongly in the quarter at 8.33 percent year-on-year.
In addition, the other services sector and the transportation and warehousing sectors each grew significantly by 9.95 percent and 8.64 percent annually.
Aceh and North Sumatra utilized new and revitalized sports facilities to enhance athletes' achievements.
The facilities included the North Sumatra Sports Center in Sena village, Batang Kuis sub-district, Deli Serdang.
The cash flow recorded during the 2024 PON is estimated to have reached Rp8.6 trillion (around US$531 million).
Furthermore, the event involved 83,000 local volunteers, the highest in PON history.
Reflections
Several learnings can be derived from the 2024 Aceh-North Sumatra PON. The 2024 edition of the sports week did not have as large a budget as the 2021 Papua PON, for which a budget of Rp8 trillion was provided.
From media records and data from the Youth and Sports Ministry, Rp2.2 trillion was allocated from the state budget and Rp1.7 trillion from the regional budget for the 2024 PON. So, the total allocation was around Rp3.9 trillion.
The funds were sufficiently large, with allocations made for two areas. First, the implementation of matches, ceremonies, and supporting equipment. Second, the renovation and construction of venues.
However, during the implementation, several problems emerged, including the roof collapse at the shooting venue at Mata Le, Aceh Besar, and the unfinished construction of facilities at Takengon Racecourse, Aceh, and the North Sumatra Sports Center.
In fact, the preparation time for the 2024 PON was quite long because the two provinces were selected as hosts in 2016.
There was another issue related to food for athletes.
A number of athletes complained about the quality of food provided by the 2024 PON committee on social media, as it was feared that it would have a negative impact on the health and performance of athletes due to its questionable nutritional value.
These issues should be addressed to ensure the next PON is smoother, benefiting athletes competing in events like the SEA Games and Olympics.
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Translator: Fajar Satriyo, Raka Adji
Editor: Anton Santoso
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