Jakarta, IO – Rifda Irfanaluthfi made history as the first Indonesian gymnast athlete to successfully qualify for the Paris Olympics to be held on July 26-August 11, 2024.
Rifda is one of 15 athletes who will compete in Paris next year, together with archer Arif Dwi Pangestu, rock climbing athlete Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi and lifter Eko Yuli Irawan. This certainty becomes new history because Rifda is the first Indonesian gymnast to contest the prestigious international sporting event.
The Gymnastics Association of Indonesian (Persani) manager and training director Hesti Diwayanti said that Rifda is selected not based on wild card system but the rule of the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG).
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One of them is the authority of the host country to appoint a national federation (NF) that is eligible to compete in 2024 Olympics. In other words, it was not an automatic qualification but she was chosen from among the high-achieving athletes globally. For the record, Rifda ranks 52nd in the world, per Detikcom. (bp)