Message to Indonesian Gymnasts at the World Championships

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The 2025 Artistic Gymnastics World Championship has officially opened at the Indonesia Arena Stadium on Sunday (19/10/2025). However, Indonesian gymnasts are still anxiously awaiting their opportunity to showcase their skills. As their performances are set to begin on Monday morning, there is an important message for the "Merah Putih" ambassadors.

The host's journey in the qualifying round will be opened by the men's team, which is placed in subdivision 7, on Monday from 10:00 to 11:40 WIB. The women's team will make their appearance the following day, Tuesday from 15:00 to 16:15 WIB. On the opening day, only subdivisions 1-6 from the men's sector will compete, including the countries of the Philippines and Japan.

In the realm of gymnastics in the homeland, perhaps no one is more competent than Eva Novalina Butar Butar. She has succeeded as both an athlete and a coach, having been dubbed the "queen of gymnastics" in Southeast Asia during the 1980s, and she played a pivotal role in creating Indonesia's first Olympic gymnast through Rifda Irfanalutfhi.

Eva, the coach of the women's team, conveyed a message to the representatives of Indonesia. Specifically, to her three protégés who will be making their debut at the World Championship, namely Alarice Mallica Prakoso (17), Larasati Rengganis (18), and Salsabilla Hadi Pamungkas (19).

“Focus on what they have, the skills they have, don’t compare them with others,” he said.

In Indonesia Arena, Alarice and her teammates will compete alongside elite gymnasts from around the world. One of them is Kaylia Neymour, the gold medalist on the uneven bars at the Paris 2024 Olympics from Algeria. With their skills and experience significantly lagging behind, the host representatives do not need to concern themselves with other gymnasts.

What I tell the kids is, this is the World Championships, so just enjoy the competition.

The results of artistic gymnastics are indeed determined by the judges' scores, which contain a subjective element. However, everything remains measurable because gymnasts will only showcase what they have trained. They cannot suddenly improvise on the day of the event. This could endanger themselves. Moreover, the automation of movements requires months of preparation.

The final assessment is derived from the combination of the difficulty score (Score D) and the execution score (Score E). Score D is almost entirely dependent on the gymnast's skill, while Score E is based on the perfection of the movements during the competition. As a result, intense competition typically arises only among gymnasts with balanced skills.

Alarice, the gold medalist in the floor exercise at the Pharaoh Cup 2025, is an example. She scored 12.600 in that championship (D Score 4.500 and E Score 8.100). For context, if that score were placed in the qualification for the 2023 World Championships, she would only rank 123rd. The majority of elite female gymnasts have already achieved a difficulty level above a D Score of 5.000.

"What I conveyed to the children is that this is the World Championship. So just enjoy the competition. Do your best by showcasing your movements to the fullest, according to the target. They also need to keep their eyes open, so they can see how the world level competes and trains, and then learn from that," explained Eva.

Eva does not set a target for the female gymnasts to qualify. In this championship, a total of 24 top athletes will advance to the individual all-around final. Meanwhile, the top eight athletes in each apparatus will also qualify for the apparatus final. There are four apparatuses in the women's sector, namely floor, vault, uneven bars, and balance beam.

The opportunities for the Indonesian men's team are not much different. The athletes' level is still around Southeast Asia. The main gymnast of "Merah Putih," Abiyu Rafi (23), participated in the 2025 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jecheon, South Korea, last June. His best achievement was ranking 28th in the floor exercise with a score of 12.566.

One of the coaches of the men's team, Jonathan Mangiring Sianturi, believes that artistic gymnastics is not a physical competition like football. Indonesian gymnasts only need to overcome themselves and do not need to aspire to win against others. For him, simply participating in the World Championship is already an extraordinary achievement.

Jonathan, a 14-time gold medalist at the SEA Games during his athletic career, is a special coach for Joseph Judah Hatoguan, who came in as a substitute gymnast a month before the championship. "If I have been doing it this way from the beginning, 'I know you are above me, I won't look back. In gymnastics, what matters is that you perform your best just like in practice," he stated.

In the men's sector, there are more apparatuses used. In addition to the floor and vaulting table, there are also rings, parallel bars, horizontal bar, and pommel horse. A total of five male gymnasts will compete in these events.

"So far, I'm quite prepared because I've been preparing since last year, from Japan, Russia, and also directly to the competition," said Abiyu.

Alarice, as suggested by Eva, intends to learn directly from world-class gymnasts. "If I have the chance to talk to them, I want to learn how to manage my nervousness. I want to see how they train, how focused they are. I want to learn everything because all of this is still new to me," she stated.

On the first day of the World Championships, the Indonesia Arena Stadium was packed with spectators, but that didn't mean all the seats were filled. The Indonesia Arena Stadium has a capacity of up to 13,000 spectators when the collapsible telescopic stands are not in use. As a result, even with 3,000 people in attendance, the stadium still felt like it had plenty of space in the stands.

However, at the very least, a lively atmosphere always colors the stadium when the gymnasts finish showcasing their performances. Especially if the gymnast performing is a world-class athlete, such as Daiki Hashimoto (Japan), the holder of three Olympic medals.

The audience always cheers or applauds when a gymnast lands perfectly or performs a series of complex movements. Similarly, this occurs when the gymnast's score appears on the screen. Conversely, they collectively express their disappointment when the gymnast fails to execute the movements flawlessly.

The Chairperson of the Indonesian Gymnastics Federation (FGI), Ita Yuliati, stated that filling the stadium is indeed a challenge for them as the organizing committee. Previously, FGI had invited communities and gymnastics clubs to attend and watch, especially during the less crowded qualifications.

FGI is also collaborating with the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government to mobilize students to the stadium. Starting Monday, when Indonesia plays, Ita estimates that there will be 1,000 students in attendance.

"In the future, we will provide ticket discounts; in fact, for category two, we will offer free tickets if desired, but registration is required to avoid exceeding capacity. Our main goal is not to profit from ticket sales, but to promote gymnastics," said Ita.