In 1962, Indonesia celebrated its renaissance by hosting the 4th Asian Games in Jakarta. It has hosted numerous sporting events since then. But the return in 2018 of the 18th Asian Games was significant: for the first time, they were co-hosted - Palembang staged the event together with Jakarta. These arrangements reflected a new reality in Indonesia; the Jakarta-centric autocracy of the New Order regime has been replaced by regional autonomy, local agency, evolving center-periphery relationships but also heightened inter-city rivalry and increased city marketing. In this intriguing new study, Friederike Trotier uses the evolution of Indonesia’s sporting history as a lens to reflect on the country’s transformation since 1998.