Climbing to the Top of the World

If there were a wall-climbing contest between a gecko, a lizard, a spider and Aries Susanti Rahayu, Aries would surely win. Of course the contest could never happen. But if you happened to watch the speed-climbing event during the 2018 Asian Games in Palembang, you might agree with the statement.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Aries Susanti Rahayu

If there were a wall-climbing contest between a gecko, a lizard, a spider and Aries Susanti Rahayu, Aries would surely win. Of course the contest could never happen. But if you happened to watch the speed-climbing event during the 2018 Asian Games in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Thursday (23/8/2018), you might agree with the statement.

Such a statement aimed only to describe how Aries was able to climb a 15-meter wall, at an angle of 85 degrees, within 7.6 seconds. The 23-year-old woman made almost no mistakes since qualifying for final stage. She grabbed the gold medal after defeating her senior, Puji Lestari.

Aries’ medal was historic because it was the first gold medal for Indonesia in wall climbing in the Asian Games. It was also the first time that wall climbing was put in Asia’s biggest sporting competition.

But actually, it was not the first time for Aries to make history. In May, she grabbed the gold medal in the World Championships in Chongqing, China. She beat Europe’s well-known climber, Russian Elena Timofeeva, in the final.

The video footage went viral in Indonesia. Nobody would imagine a woman from a small village in Grobogan regency, Central Java, could defeat a world-class athlete.

Yet we need to understand Aries’ achievement was no Roro Jonggrang legend, where Prince Bandung Bondowoso builds 1,000 temples in one night. Her story was full of winding roads, ups and downs and even blood.

She sacrificed her teenage years. She was drenched in sweat every day, far from her beloved family. Five days a week, she practiced hard.

Weightlifting was her daily routine to improve her upper and lower movement muscles. Running, jumping and climbing was also part of her routine. It all had to be repeated several times a day, without complaining. Her hard work has now borne fruit.

Climbing the tree

Since she was a child, Anies was “different” from the other girls. When she was in elementary school, she liked climbing trees rather than playing with dolls with her friends.

“When I was a kid, there were many mahogany trees near the house. I used to climb the trees and moved from one tree to another while up high in the treetops. It\'s surprising that I am still climbing now,” Aries said, laughing, during an interview with Kompas at a hotel in Palembang on Friday (24/8/2018). She was accompanied by chief coach Caly Setiawan.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Aries Susanti Rahayu

Aries loves sports, especially running. When she was in junior high school, she was the winner in the district and regency competition. Because of her victory, she received a scholarship from Sampoerna.

When she continued to her second year in junior high school in 2007, her sports teacher, Pak Yuli, introduced her to wall climbing. Aries was the niece of Yuli, who was an executive member of the Indonesian Wall Climbing Federation (FPTI) in Grobogan and was looking for young athletes for the Central Java Sports Contest (Porda).

Aries was interested. She became the youngest wall-climbing athlete in Grobogan at 14 years old. Having practiced for no more than two years, Aries won the gold medal in Porda in 2009.

After graduating from junior high school, Aries continued to senior high school SMAN 9 in Semarang so that she could improve her skills in wall climbing.

In Grobogan, she did not find an equal rival. At that time, she heard the FPTI in Central Java was looking for athletes for the 2012 National Games (PON) in Riau.

However, Aries did not get onto the primary team at first. She was recruited as a reserve for the PON. Aries then beat all her fellow athletes and immediately got onto the primary team.

When competing at the PON in Riau, Aries’ name was forgotten, even though Central Java collected the most gold medals. Aries was defeated in the quarterfinals because she competed in the group speed track event, while her training focused on speed climbing.

After the PON, in sadness, Aries went home. But she did not forget wall climbing. She regularly traveled around Central Java to find rivals. In the PON 2016 in West Java, Aries competed in the group speed event and won the gold medal. Yet she did not compete in individual category because she was outclassed by her senior.

Her participation in the Asian Games was partially due to luck and timing. In early 2017, Aries was asked to give a brief training for the Army\'s Special Forces (Kopassus) in Jakarta. There, she met Hendra Basir, the national coach for wall climbing.

Hendra was impressed to see Aries\' capability. Hendra invited Aries to attend the training for top national athletes preparing for the 2018 Asian Games. Aries needed to pay the accommodation herself. Her status was as a sparring partner or reserve.

However, during three simulation contests with the national athletes, Aries emerged as the winner. The FPTI listed her as an athlete.

In her international debut at the Asia Championship in Iran in September 2017, Aries won only the bronze medal. She lost to Chinese climber Song Yiling in semifinals. In the final, Aries\' senior, Puji, beat Song to win the gold medal.

During the 2018 Asian Games, Aries met Song again in the semifinals. This time, Aries got her revenge and beat Song. In the final, Aries beat Puji, who defeated another Chinese athlete, He Cuilian.

Now, after becoming the best in Asia, Aries will not stop. She aimed for the world’s largest sporting competition, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Aries hopes the government will support wall climbing at a higher level. She did not detail her request, saying the government knows what to do.

Caly said Aries would take part in seven competitions in the final months of 2018 — two world championships, an Asian competition and four world tournaments in China.

At the Tokyo Olympics, wall climbing will be held as a competition for the first time, but only for the speed, lead and boulder categories. Aries has exceptional skill only in the speed category. But Aries has something to say about that as well.

“Nothing is impossible. There is still time for training for the Tokyo Olympics. I will focus on boulder and lead. I can do it,” she said.

When asked what dreams of hers have not been fulfilled, Aries said she wanted to set a world record. Currently, the speed record is still in the hand of Iuliia Kaplina from Russia. Aries’ journey is still long. With discipline, hard work and government support, she can surely become the best in the world.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Aries Susanti Rahayu

Born: Grobogan, March 21, 1995

Parent: S. Sanjaya (father); Maryati (mother)

Education: SDN Taruna elementary school, Klambu, Grobogan; SMPN 1 Grobogan junior high school (2009); SMAN 9 Semarang and SMA Kristen Purwodadi senior high school (2012)

; Muhammadiyah University in Semarang, majored in management

Achievement:

Gold medal in Asian Games (2018); Gold medal in World Championship in

Chongqing, China (May 2018); Silver medal in World Championship in

Xiamen, China (2017); Bronze medal in World Championship in

Tai’an, China (2018); Bronze medal in Asian Championship, Iran

(2017)