Helping para-athletes get to the starting line

Jakarta (ANTARA) - As Indonesia celebrates success at the 2026 Asian Para Games, the contributions of businesses, foundations and individual donors show how sustained support helps para-athletes reach the starting line.

Indonesia surpassed its initial target of seven gold medals at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games in Japan when boccia player Felix Ardi Yudha won the country’s eighth gold on October 21. He was among 103 Indonesian athletes selected to compete across 12 sports.

Indonesia has competed in every edition since the first Games in Guangzhou in 2010 and hosted the event in Jakarta in 2018. Now in their fifth edition, the Games have come to Japan for the first time, with an 18-sport programme scheduled for October 18–24.

The medals are the athletes’ achievement, earned through years of hard work, skill and determination. Along the way, access to specialist equipment, coaching and reliable transport helps them put that dedication into practice. These are some of the practical needs that businesses, foundations and individual donors help meet, often through commitments lasting well beyond a single competition.

A place to prepare

In Indonesia, PT Bayan Resources Tbk has supported national para-athletes through its Bayan Peduli programme since 2022, working with the National Paralympic Committee of Indonesia.

The partnership has supported the team at the ASEAN Para Games in Solo and Cambodia, the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou and the Paris 2024 Paralympics. It has also supported domestic competition, including Indonesia’s 2024 National Paralympic Games.

Bayan Peduli has pledged support for the development, management and maintenance of the Paralympic Training Center in Karanganyar, Central Java. This private support sits alongside government funding for national training camps, allocated on a multi-year basis to help athletes prepare consistently between major competitions.

The work behind the team

In Japan, one of the Nippon Foundation’s major contributions to para-sport began with something far removed from a stadium: a shared office.

In 2015, the foundation announced plans to provide 10 billion yen through 2021 to support para-sport organisations and preparations for the Tokyo Paralympics. Its Paralympic Support Center offered federations free office space and meeting rooms, along with help with accounting, translation and interpretation.

For organisations without their own premises or full-time staff, this was a way to establish a more reliable daily operation. Athletes need coaches, but coaches and federations also need people who can organise travel, manage finances and keep programmes running.

The support continued after Tokyo. In April 2026, the centre donated nearly 40,000 euros to the International Paralympic Committee to develop educational materials on classification, the system used to group athletes according to how their impairment affects performance in a particular sport.

A personal commitment

For international entrepreneur and investor Oleg Boyko, mobility and access are also matters of personal experience. A serious spinal injury changed his own life. Alongside his business career, he has supported athletes with disabilities in different countries through the Parasport Foundation for over two decades.

In 2008, Oleg Boyko supported the Ukrainian team’s preparation and participation in the Beijing Paralympics. Assistance included training, travel and the transport of sporting equipment. After the Games, he received an honorary certificate from Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers and a commemorative award for his contribution to the team’s success.

The foundation’s work later extended to Southeast Asia. In 2015, Oleg Boyko took part in a meeting with the leadership of Vietnam’s Paralympic Committee. Discussions focused on sharing training experience and preparations for Vietnamese athletes’ participation in the IWAS World Games. Later that year, he was appointed to the Development Committee of the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS).

More recently, Parasport became general sponsor of the Serbian Paralympic Committee, with support extending to preparations for Los Angeles 2028. In July 2026, the committee confirmed the signing of a sponsorship agreement and the handover of two specialised minibuses adapted for people with disabilities, making it easier for athletes to travel to training and competitions with their teammates and equipment.

From a first opportunity to the international stage

The US-based, the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) supports people with physical disabilities at different stages of their sporting lives. In 2024, it awarded 4,497 grants worth US$8.1 million, helping recipients obtain equipment and meet the costs of training and competition.

The reach of that support became apparent at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. According to CAF, 127 members of the US team, or 58 per cent, had received a grant from the foundation at some point in their careers.

Its grants also reach people taking up sport for the first time. For them, access to a suitable wheelchair or sports prosthesis can be the beginning of regular participation, whether or not international competition ever becomes their goal.

Opportunities close to home

In the United Arab Emirates, the Fazza International Championships have given para-athletes regular opportunities to compete in Dubai since 2009.

Organised by the Dubai Club for People of Determination and its partners, the championships attract international competitors across several sports. The 2026 programme includes para-athletics, para-badminton and para-archery.

Partners named for this year’s para-athletics Grand Prix included ORA Developers, Mai Dubai and Al Ain Farms, alongside public organisations involved in health and transport.

Hosting such events gives local athletes the chance to compete against international opponents without travelling abroad. It also allows younger competitors to gain experience alongside established athletes.

A lasting partnership

Dubai is also home to the Asian Paralympic Committee (APC), whose work extends across the continent. At the start of the Aichi-Nagoya Games, the committee announced a four-year partnership with South Korea’s BDH Foundation. The agreement was signed in Nagoya by APC President Majid Rashed and the foundation’s chairman, Bae Dong Hyun.

The partnership aims to expand opportunities for athletes and strengthen national Paralympic committees, including those in countries where para-sport is still developing.

The announcement did not disclose a funding amount, but it set out an initial four-year term with provisions for automatic renewal. That gives the cooperation a scope extending well beyond the current Games.

Support beyond the Games

These partnerships help widen opportunities for athletes and strengthen the organisations that support them. Their value extends beyond preparations for a particular tournament. A sporting career takes shape over many seasons, and dependable support gives athletes the confidence to plan ahead.

Behind a place on the podium lies a long journey. The people willing to stay involved throughout it matter before a first victory, after a disappointing performance and when an athlete is working towards a return to competition.

For businesses, foundations and individual donors, that commitment means remaining involved when the Games are over and attention has moved on. Sometimes the most valuable assurance they can offer is that tomorrow’s training can go ahead and an athlete can keep pursuing the next goal.

The achievements in Aichi-Nagoya belong to the athletes who earned them. For those supporting their careers, the responsibility is to help ensure that the opportunity to compete remains open, both to today’s medallists and to those still working towards their first Games.

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Editor: Martha Herlinawati Simanjuntak
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