Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

competed in the Summer Olympic Games for the first time at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

, Finland. With three male athletes, Indonesia was one of the smallest teams competing in Helsinki. A non-participant served as flag bearer for the Indonesian delegation at the opening ceremony. The team did not win any medals. The weightlifter Thio Ging Hwie ranked eighth overall in men's lightweight, Maram Sudarmodjo ranked 20th in men's high jump, and the swimmer Habib Suharko did not advance past the preliminary round.

Background

The Republic of Indonesia declared its independence in 1945; previously it was a Dutch colony known as the Dutch East Indies. In 1946, the newly independent nation created its National Olympic Committee, Sports Association of the Republic of Indonesia (''Persatuan Olahraga Republik Indonesia'' or PORI) and began organizing its national multi-sports event—

National Sports Week The National Sports Week ( id, Pekan Olahraga Nasional, abbreviated as PON) is a multi-sport event held every four years in Indonesia. The participants of this event are the athletes from all provinces of Indonesia. It is organized by the National ...

—in 1948 in Surakarta. The nation unsuccessfully attempted to join the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

in London amid the

Indonesian War of Independence The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during postwar and postcoloni ...

(1945–1949). In 1951 Indonesia competed in the first-ever Asian Games in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

, India. In 1952 the committee, now renamed the

Indonesian Olympic Committee Indonesian Olympic Committee ( id, Komite Olimpiade Indonesia, abbreviate: KOI) is the national Olympic committee of Indonesia and the member of Olympic Council of Asia. Their duty is to organize Indonesian participation in international sporting ...

(''Komite Olimpiade Indonesia'' or KOI) was recognized by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC) and Indonesia was set to debut in the Olympics that year in Helsinki.

Competitors

Indonesian athletes at 1952 olympics far 03

Indonesian delegation, opening ceremony, Helsinki 1952

The Indonesian team consisted of three male athletes: high jump athlete Maram Sudarmodjo, swimmer Habib Suharko and weightlifter Thio Ging Hwie. They were selected from participants of the 1948 National Sports Week and the 1951 Asian Games. Maram Sudarmodjo was a former youth fighter in the War of Independence and a future lieutenant colonel in the country's air force. Previously he won a gold medal in the 1948 National Sports Week and a bronze medal in the 1951 Asian Games, both with the best jump of 1.89 m. Thio Ging Hwie was the first

ethnic Chinese The Chinese people or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation. Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by speakers of s ...

Indonesian to participate in an international sports event. A non-participant served as a flag-bearer at the opening ceremony. Two officials and one spectator was registered as part of the delegation, and six press passes were issued for the country. With just three athletes, it was one of the smallest teams in 1952, bigger than China, Guyana,

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

(one athlete each) as well as

Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of Gr ...

and

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

(two each). The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games:

Athletics

The 24-year-old Maram Sudarmodjo was Indonesia's sole athlete in athletics, participating in men's high jump. In the qualifying round he was drawn in Group B, where he cleared the 1.80 m, 1.84 m and 1.87 m bar. This put him at the 14th position in the group and 26th overall, allowing him to advance to the final round. In the final round, he did not attempt the 1.70 m bar and cleared the 1.80 m one at his first attempt. However, he did not clear the 1.90 m bar after three attempts. With these results, he ranked 20th overall. The gold medal was won by

Buddy Davis Walter Francis "Buddy" Davis (January 5, 1931 – November 17, 2020) was an American athlete. After winning a gold medal in the high jump at the 1952 Olympics he became a professional basketball player.

Swimming

The sole Indonesian swimmer, Habib Suharko, participated in men's 200 m breaststroke. In the preliminary round, he swam a time of 2 minutes and 51.3 seconds, finishing fifth in heat five, and did not qualify for the next round.

Weightlifting

The weightlifter Thio Ging Hwie participated in men's lightweight. He completed three military presses: 97.5 kilograms, 102.5 kilograms and 105.0 kilograms. The 105.0 kilogram lift was the best military press in the competition, tied with five other athletes. In snatches, he successfully opened with 87.5 kilograms, then failed his second lift (92.5 kilograms) before completing the same weight in his final lift. In clean and jerks, he successfully lifted 120.0 kilograms, 125.0 kilograms and 130 kilograms. His best completed lifts from each variant totaled 327.5 kilograms, ranking him eighth in the final standings. The gold medal was won by

Tommy Kono Tamio "Tommy" Kono (June 27, 1930 – April 24, 2016) was a Japanese American weightlifter in the 1950s and 1960s. Kono set world records in four different weight classes: lightweight (149 pounds or 67.5 kilograms), middleweight (165 lb or ...

of the United States, with lifts totaling 362.5 kilograms.

References

Citations

Sources

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External links

Official Olympic Reports
{{Nations at the 1952 Summer Olympics Nations at the 1952 Summer Olympics

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

1952 in Indonesian sport