Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex

The Bung Karno Sports Complex (Indonesian: Gelanggang Olahraga Bung Karno), better known as Gelora Bung Karno; formerly named the Asian Games Complex (Indonesian: Kompleks Asian Games and the Senayan Sports Complex (Indonesian: Kompleks Olahraga Senayan) from 1969 to 2001, is a sports complex located in Gelora, Central Jakarta, bordering the Senayan, South Jakarta because of its large location. Originally built with substantial Soviet assistance, this sports complex was a brain child of Sukarno, the first President of Indonesia, in order to host the 1962 Asian Games. This sports complex consists of a main stadium, secondary stadium, the Sports Palace, football fields, aquatic stadium, tennis stadiums (indoor and outdoor), hockey, baseball and archery fields, and several indoor gymnasiums. This complex was built in 1960 and underwent major renovation for the 2018 Asian Games and Asian Para Games.
After the Asian Games Federation declared Jakarta to host the 1962 Asian Games in 1958, the minimum requirement that was yet to be met by Jakarta was the availability of a multi-sport complex. In response to this, President Sukarno issued Presidential Decree No. 113/1959 dated 11 May 1959 about the establishment of the Asian Games Council of Indonesia (DAGI) led by Minister of Sports Maladi. Sukarno, as an architect and civil engineering graduate, proposed a location near M. H. Thamrin Boulevard and Menteng, namely the area of Karet, Pejompongan, or Dukuh Atas. Friedrich Silaban, a renowned architect who accompanied Sukarno to review the location by helicopter, disagreed with the selection of Dukuh Atas because he argued the construction of a sports complex in the center of the future downtown area will potentially create massive traffic congestion. Sukarno agreed and instead assigned the Senayan area with an area of approximately 300 hectares.
The first pole erection was done symbolically by Sukarno and Soviet First Deputy Premier Anastas Mikoyan on 8 February 1960. Construction of Istora was completed in May 1961. The secondary stadium, Swimming Stadium, and Tennis Stadium followed in December 1961. The main stadium was completed on 21 July 1962, a month before the games.
The sports complex hosts a main stadium with a capacity of 77,193 seats, athletic stadium, football fields, aquatic stadium, tennis stadiums (indoor and outdoor), hockey, baseball and archery fields, and several indoor gymnasiums. Built over 279 hectares of land, it is the largest sports complex in Indonesia. The Gelora Bung Karno Stadium is the main building within this sports complex. The abbreviation Gelora also means "vigorous" (like the flame or ocean wave) in the Indonesian language. Other than hosting several sports facilities, the sports complex is also a popular place for people of Jakarta to do physical exercises; jogging, bicycling, aerobics, and calisthenics, especially during the weekend.
For the first time, the sports complex was host fourth Asian Games in 1962. The main stadium hosted the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. Other competitions held there were several AFF Championship finals and domestic cup finals. The Istora hosted numbers of BWF World Championships, Sudirman Cup, Thomas Cup and Uber Cup badminton competitions. The tennis stadium hosted most of Indonesia's home matches at the Davis Cup and Fed Cup.
The sports complex hosted multi-event sport such as Pekan Olahraga Nasional (PON, National Sports Week) and Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games). The complex hosted the PON seven times between 1973 and 1996. The complex hosted the SEA Games in 1979, 1987, 1997 and 2011; the latter was co-hosted with Jakabaring Sport City complex in Palembang. It also hosted 2018 Asian Games along with Palembang's complex and some other venues across Palembang, Banten, Greater Jakarta and West Java, while it served only with other venues across Greater Jakarta and West Java during the subsequent Para Games.
The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup was held at a new 17,150 seater arena within the sports complex known as Indonesia Arena; Indonesia was the co-host along with Japan and the Philippines.
Initially, the sports complex covers a much larger area than it is today. During the 1980s to 1990s, several land plots were developed into non-sport facilities. The northern area was developed into government offices while the southern area was developed into hotels and shopping malls. The complex also had a radio-controlled car circuit northwest of the main stadium, which was scrapped during the 2017 renovation.
The southern area was originally an athlete village for the 1962 Asian Games. The village was demolished in the 1970s. Several buildings now stood in their location.
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