Ginting, Christie, Mariska, Zohri and Irawan

Indonesia’s golden badminton legacy at the Olympics could be set to continue at the Tokyo Games with stars like Jonatan Christie and Anthony Ginting ready to shine.

The nation has won seven Olympic gold medals and all seven have come on the badminton court.

This remarkable record stretches back to when badminton first appeared at the Olympics at Barcelona 1992 when power couple Alan Budi Kusama and Susi Susanti won the men’s and women’s singles titles.

Indonesia has produced timeless talents like Kusama, Susanti, and Athens 2004 gold medallist Taufik Hidayat, and now a new generation is ready to step up.

Olympic badminton winners become instant national icons back home, but Indonesian athletes can succeed off the badminton court too.

19 of 32 Olympic medals have come in badminton, but weightlifting is a strong discipline too. Indonesian heavy lifters have collected six silver and six bronze medals, while archery is the only other sport that has seen Indonesia win an Olympic medal.

With Tokyo 2020 just days away, here are the athletes most likely to become Indonesian national heroes at the Tokyo Games.

1. Anthony Ginting

Despite Indonesia’s early dominance in Olympic badminton – the men swept the singles podium in Barcelona with Alan Budi Kusuma (gold), Ardy Wiranata (silver) and Hermawan Susanto (bronze) – they haven’t won men’s singles gold since Taufik Hidayat sent the country wild at Athens 2004.

China’s Lin Dan and Chen Long with Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei have dominated the last three Games but with Lin and Lee both retired only Chen remains of that trio, and Ginting is currently one place above him in fifth on the BWF world rankings.

While competition will be fierce with World No.1 Momota Kento locked in on winning gold at his home Games, Malaysian sensation Lee Zi Jia out to upend the world order and the likes of Danish duo Viktor Axelsen and Anders Antonsen, and Chou Tien-Chen pushing hard, it’s impossible to call the men’s winner in Tokyo.

But Ginting will be in the mix. At 24 he has both youth and experience on his side and has proven that on his day he’s a match for anyone in the world.

“I think if I manage to win an Olympic medal, especially gold, for sure it will mean a lot.” – Ginting told Olympics.com, also saying that the weight of expectation doesn’t affect him:

“I’m also used to the pressure because of my experience playing in other tournaments where the nation looks to me for victory. I’ve felt it before and I am used to it,” he said.

When it comes to crunch time, Ginting will feel the support from home, an entire nation almost 300 million strong willing him to victory.