5 facts about Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie, the badminton pin-up boy serving for gold at Tokyo 2020 Olympics
When he won the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games, the 22-year-old sportsman whipped off his shirt – and a viral sensation was born, with 1.9 million Instagram fans and counting
Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie, aka Jojo, is a badminton phenom and viral internet hit. He is an idol in his home country, and at only 22 is considered a prime candidate for gold in Tokyo 2020. “I keep in my mind that someday, I will make Indonesia proud,” says Christie.
This young man has been on the international stage since 2013, when he was 15 and won his first international senior title at the Indonesia International Challenge. He beat a far more experienced (and 11 years older) Alamsyah Yunus in the final. At the 2018 Asian Games, in his hometown of Jakarta, he won 21–18, 20–22, 21–15 over Chou Tien-chen, taking the badminton men’s singles gold medal for Indonesia. His team also won.
What else do we know about this rising regional sports star?