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Two of the most common complaints in Indonesian sports are the country’s waning standing on the international stage and the lack of a younger generation to fill the shoes of older athletes.

While those concerns have not entirely subsided, 2011 showed that Indonesia still has athletes, many of them fresh-faced, who can succeed internationally.

Winning performances by younger athletes at this year’s Southeast Asian Games gave the country a boost of confidence and optimism that a bright future lies ahead. That success helped the host nation top the Games medal tally for the first time since 1997, earning 182 gold medals, 151 silvers and 153 bronzes.

It was a measure of the host’s dominance that second-place Thailand was well off the pace with only 109 golds.
Now the task for the country’s sports authorities is to maintain that momentum and end the long-standing neglect of youth athletes’ development. Tono Suratman, newly elected chairman of the National Sports Committee (KONI), has pledged a renewed focus on the grassroots level.

“My main focus now is to decentralize the athletes’ development program. We’ll set up training camps in every province instead of focusing on Jakarta,” he said in his speech after winning election on Dec. 2.

Likewise, the government says the Games success is only the first step.

“We have a big dream to build more sports facilities in each province so we can nurture more young talents. If we provide them with better facilities, their parents won’t have to worry about their kids going too far from home for training,” said Andi Mallarangeng, the minister of youth and sports affairs.

Part of the success at the Games, co-hosted by Jakarta and Palembang, came from events that were held for the first time.

The Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) made no secret that several of the niche sports were proposed to help Indonesia boost its medal tally. Its plan succeeded, with the host nation earning 55 golds from seven events making their Games debut.

Roller sports led the way with 12 golds, followed by paragliding with 11, wall climbing nine, soft tennis seven, kempo eight, water skiing four and bridge four.

Expectations were low for several Olympic sports, but they also threw up a pleasant surprise. Only seven golds were expected from athletics, which finished with 12, while swimming brought home six golds after only managing two at the 2009 Games in Vientiane, Laos.

Cycling, which won three golds in Laos, finished with 12 this year from the road, track and mountain bike events.

Indonesia’s young athletes stole the headlines for the quality and quantity of their successes. I Gede Siman Sudartawa, 17, became the first Indonesian to win four Games golds since swimming legend Wisnu Wardana in 2003. He also set a new Games record in the men’s 100-meter backstroke.

Siman’s girlfriend, 17-year-old Yessy Yosaputra, also won gold and broke the women’s 200-meter backstroke Games record which had stood for 16 years.

Young sprinter Franklin Ramses Burumi showed he was ready to dethrone Indonesian sprint star Suryo Agung Wibowo, who missed the Games to undergo the hajj. Franklin, 20, triumphed in men’s 100 and 200 meters before helping his country end Thailand’s domination of the 4x100-meter relay.

His cousin, 21-year-old Serafi Anelies Unani, won the women’s 100 meters to end Vietnam’s domination in the sprint events.

Christopher Rungkat, 21, won three golds and one silver in tennis, while women’s archer Erwina Safitri, 18, also took three golds.

The new year brings with it the 2012 Olympics in London, but KONI said its expectations were modest.

“We’re taking it step by step. We’ll try to do better in Asia first,” Tono said.

The news was not all rosy around the Games. Preparations were dogged by corruption scandals, poor organization and shoddy infrastructure, and the much-anticipated football final between Indonesia and Malaysia was marred by the death of two people in a crush of fans at Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta.

Suspended Youth and Sports Affairs Ministry secretary general Wafid Muharram became the first official convicted of graft in the Games athletes’ village scandal on Monday, receiving a three-year jail sentence for corruption.

Elsewhere, World Boxing Association featherweight super champion Chris John defended his title twice in 2011. The unbeaten 32-year-old beat countryman Daud Yordan in April before defeating Stanyslav Merdov of Ukraine in Perth, Australia, on Nov. 30.

On July 7, Mahitala, a group of climbers from Parahyangan Catholic University, reached the summit of Alaska’s Mount McKinley, completing its goal of reaching the highest peaks on each of the seven continents.

Sofyan Arief Fesa, Janathan Ginting, Xaferius Frans and Broery Andrew Sihombing are the first Indonesians to complete the Seven Summits feat.