State Minister for Youth and Sports Affairs Andi Alfian Mallarangeng handed out Rp 45.4 billion (US$5 million) in bonuses to athletes who won medals at the recent Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, and their managers.
The minister said he was satisfied with Indonesia’s winnings – 4 gold medals, 9 silver medals and 13 bronze medals – so that Indonesia was ranked 15th out of the 46 participant countries at the Asian Games.
Andi said he hoped the bonus would increase athlete motivation for the 2014 Asian Games, so that Indonesian athletes could meet the target of 8 gold medals.
“There was no discrimination in the distribution of bonuses. Each athlete got the same amount,” he said. Individual and group athletes each received the same amount of money “even though we had to increase the budget to meet our promise,” he said.
The amount of money the government provided in bonuses was larger than previous games, as the men’s dragon boat team, comprised of 22 athletes, won gold. Meanwhile, the women’s dragon boat team won 3 silver medals.
Each gold medal winner got Rp 400 million and each silver medalist Rp 200 million, while the manager’s of gold medalists received Rp 100 million and silver medal manager’s got Rp 50 million.
source: http://www.thejakartapost.com