Jakarta (ANTARA) – Youth and Sports Minister Erick Thohir said Indonesia has lowered its target for the 2026 Asian Games to four gold medals after several events that previously delivered titles were removed.”From the initial target of seven golds, three events have been dropped. Realistically, we can now only target four golds,” he told lawmakers in Jakarta on Tuesday.He noted Indonesia won seven gold medals at the 2022 Asian Games across several sports disciplines.Those medals came from men's 10-meter running target shooting, mixed running target shooting, men's nanquan wushu, women's BMX racing, men's 73-kilogram weightlifting, women's speed climbing, and men's 1,000-meter dragon boat.However, this year's Games will not include men's running target shooting, mixed running target shooting, and men's 1,000-meter dragon boat events.The minister said he had met sports federation leaders to explore opportunities for additional gold medals beyond the revised target.He acknowledged that securing gold medals at Asia's biggest multi-sport event has become increasingly difficult.At the same time, the national training budget has fallen to Rp81 billion, equivalent to about US$4.5 million, due to government spending cuts.As a result, the minister asked lawmakers to support efforts to secure additional funding for athlete preparations.Erick said extra funding is necessary to ensure athletes can train optimally and remain competitive internationally.”There are only three months left for preparations. It would be unfortunate if training programs face disruptions,” he said.He added athletes and coaches have raised concerns that existing funding remains insufficient for preparations ahead of the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi, Japan.Despite budget constraints, Erick said he is prepared to take full responsibility if performance targets are missed because preparations fall short.