Lanny Gumulya, one of six elite Indonesian former athletes chosen as torchbearers for the opening ceremony of the Asian Games, is now looking ahead to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, hoping to see the games firsthand after her country was banned from competing the first time Tokyo hosted the event in 1964.

Still fit at 73, Gumulya became a torchbearer for these games due to her achievement at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta, where she won a gold medal in women's diving for her country, which had gained its independence just over a decade earlier.

She was only 18 when she took the top podium spot, beating out favorites Sakuko Kadokura and Kayoko Tomoe of Japan, who took silver and bronze, in the 3-meter springboard competition.

(Lanny Gumulya)

"The two Japanese were just too good. So what I really wanted was to do my best, to at least not embarrass my country since I never expected to defeat those two amazing divers," Gumulya said in a recent interview with Kyodo News. "But it turned out that Kadokura failed to perform her best, maybe because of her nervousness. And Tomoe also did the same," she said, reminiscing about her victory.

She said she was shocked at the commotion caused by the Indonesian national anthem being played at the diving venue, recalling how spectators swarmed the medals ceremony.

"Since it was unusual to hear our national anthem played during the games, it attracted so many people," she said.

In stark contrast, the Japanese national anthem was heard repeatedly throughout the competition, underscoring the dominance of Japanese athletes, she recalled.

After the games, Gumulya was invited to the presidential palace, where she was congratulated by President Sukarno, Indonesia's founding father and first president.

"Lanny, you have put a jasmine flower through the hair bun of our 'ibu pertiwi,'" she recalled Sukarno telling her, referring to the words for the Indonesian Motherland.

The 1962 Asian Games were not without controversy, since Indonesia had refused visas to athletes from Israel and Taiwan. The country was censured by the International Olympic Committee and in response, Indonesia established the Games of the New Emerging Forces in 1963, as a counter to the Olympics.

Consequently, this led to the IOC banning all athletes who took part in the '63 GANEFO games from participating in the 1964 Tokyo Games.

Notwithstanding the ban, the Indonesian delegation traveled to Tokyo anyway, but it was all for naught.

"After about two weeks doing nothing but eating and sleeping in Tokyo, we finally had to hear the sad news from the head of the contingent that we have to return home," Gumulya said.

"The choice was either all athletes take part or none of us," she said, quoting the then Indonesian sports minister, who attempted in vain to negotiate with the IOC.

Even so, Gumulya still remembers how Sukarno, known as a staunch anti-imperialist, had encouraged Indonesian athletes who also took part in 1962 Asian Games to compete at the Tokyo Games.

"Before leaving for Tokyo, Sukarno told us that we really have to go, because we fellow Asians have to see and take part in the first Olympics being held in Asia," she said.

Although her dream of competing in that Olympics was never realized, Gumulya has not given up on a chance to witness the 2020 Tokyo Games as a spectator. She also hopes to meet the two divers she beat to gold, if they are alive.

"Hopefully, if I am still alive by then, I must go to Tokyo," she said. "I just wonder whether I could still see and say 'hi' to my former rivals Sakuko Kadokura and Kayoko Tomoe when I am finally there."