Indonesia at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Indonesia at the 1952 Summer Olympics
IOC code	INA
NOC	Indonesian Olympic Committee
in Helsinki
Competitors	3 in 3 sports
Flag bearer	Habib Suharko
Medals	Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

Indonesia competed in the Summer Olympic Games for the first time at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, 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.

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—in 1948 in Surakarta. The nation unsuccessfully attempted to join the 1948 Summer Olympics in London amid the Indonesian War of Independence (1945–1949). In 1951 Indonesia competed in the first-ever Asian Games in New Delhi, India. In 1952 the committee, now renamed the Indonesian Olympic Committee (Komite Olimpiade Indonesia or KOI) was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Indonesia was set to debut in the Olympics that year in Helsinki.^[1][2]

The Indonesian team consisted of three male athletes: high jump athlete Maram Sudarmodjo, swimmer Habib Suharko and weightlifter Thio Ging Hwie.^[3] They were selected from participants of the 1948 National Sports Week and the 1951 Asian Games.^[4] Maram Sudarmodjo was a former youth fighter in the War of Independence and a future lieutenant colonel in the country's air force.^[4] 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.^[5] Thio Ging Hwie was the first ethnic Chinese Indonesian to participate in an international sports event.^[6] A non-participant served as a flag-bearer at the opening ceremony.^[7] Two officials and one spectator was registered as part of the delegation, and six press passes were issued for the country.^[8] With just three athletes, it was one of the smallest teams in 1952, bigger than China, Guyana, Panama (one athlete each) as well as Trinidad & Tobago and Liechtenstein (two each).^[3]

The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games:

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 of the United States, with the best jump of 2.04 m.^[4][9][10]

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.^[11]

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 of the United States, with lifts totaling 362.5 kilograms.^[12][13]

• Indonesia at the Olympics
• Indonesia at the Paralympics

• Fernan Rahadi (2016-08-04). "Sejarah Indonesia di Olimpiade" [History of Indonesia in the Olympics] (in Indonesian). Republika.
• John Grasso; Bill Mallon; Jeroen Heijmans (2015-05-14). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4422-4860-1.
• Randy Wirayudha (2017-05-27). "TOP FILES: Pertama Kali Ikut Olimpiade, Indonesia Hanya Kirim Tiga Atlet...Siapa Saja Mereka?" (in Indonesian). Okezone.
• "Sejarah" [History] (in Indonesian). National Sports Committee of Indonesia. 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-05-27. Retrieved 2018-05-26.
• "Helsinki yang Pertama, dan Pasti Bukan yang Terakhir" [Helsinki was the First and Definitely Not the Last] (in Indonesian). Kompas. 2012-07-25.
• "Keteladanan Sudarmodjo" [Sudarmodjo's Exemplar] (in Indonesian). Kompas. 2012-07-25.

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• Official Olympic Reports