Olympians’ Competitive Atmosphere

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

The DKI Jakarta artistic swimming team after competing in the artistic swimming final of the free routine team number in the 2019 Indonesia Open Aquatic Festival at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Stadium, Jakarta, Thursday (12/19/2019).

JAYAPURA, KOMPAS — Being up against the world's elite athletes at the recent 2020 Tokyo Games seems to have further shaped up national Olympians’ fighting spirit and mental attitude as the ongoing National Games (PON) provides a redemption for their Olympic moderate achievements.

Their presence has helped boost the Games’ competitive atmosphere, some improving their Olympic performance even though the level of competition is much lower.

Also read:

> Indonesia Tries to Get Out of Sanctions from Anti-Doping Agency

> Suppress Covid-19 at PON Papua 2021

Competing against world’s swimmers at the Tokyo Olympics about two months ago, Aflah Fadlan Prawira, 24, who is part of the West Java swimming squad, has preserved his competitive spirit to prove his class against his regional peers.

By the second day of the swimming competition on Sunday (10/10/2021) at the Lukas Enembe Aquatic Arena, Jayapura regency, he had collected a gold and a silver medal.

The gold came from the men’s 400-meter medley on Saturday night when he recorded four minutes 25.74 seconds to leave behind Farrel Armando Tangkas of Papua in second place with four minutes 34.48 seconds. He also won gold in the 10-kilometer open swimming event last Tuesday.

He said top athletes would always try to excel without feeling overawed by the opponents.

Being spurred by the Olympic spirit, he said he had learned a lot from elite athletes, especially about respecting the opponents. He said top athletes would always try to excel without feeling overawed by the opponents.

He said would never underrate opponents.

“In my mind, everyone entering PON has the same chances. There may be best bets, but we swim on water, not on paper. So, whoever is most well-prepared in PON will surely be the winner,” he said.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

West Nusa Tenggara male sprinter Lalu Muhammad Zohri (second from left) in the men's 100 meter final in the Papua PON 2021 athletics at the Mimika Sport Complex Athletic Stadium, Timika City, Mimika Regency, Papua, Wednesday (6/10/2021).

From the weightlifting arena, lifter Nurul Akmal, 28, has improved herself since returning from Tokyo. She won gold in the women’s +87 kilogram with a total lift of 258 kg (116 kg snatch, 142 kg clean and jerk). It was 2 kg better than her Olympic lift of 256 kg (115 kg snatch and 141 clean and jerk).

Nurul, a member of the Aceh sporting delegation, said she had encouraged herself to make amends for her flop in pursuing an Olympic medal and finishing only in fifth place.

The disappointing performance, she said, had provided her motivation to train since she came home from Tokyo.

"Alhamdulillah, I am in my best condition. Returning from the Olympics, I have become more excited and more enthusiastic about training because I already know my opponents," she said, adding that she was making the Games as stepping stone toward next Olympic.

The West Java rowing team splashed to three gold haul, thanks to 22-year-old Olympian Melani Putri’s improved performance. She said she had been motivated by her Olympic participation.

The three golds were produced in the women's double sculls (W2X), the women's lightweight double sculls (LW2X) and the women's quadruple sculls (W4X).

She saw that the world’s competitors, especially those from Europe, were too far ahead.

She languished in 17th place at Tokyo 2020, pairing with Mutiara Rahma Putri in the LW2x event. She saw that the world’s competitors, especially those from Europe, were too far ahead.

“I gained a valuable experience and turned it into motivation to train even harder. I will maintain the motivation for the SEA [Southeast Asian] Games next year,” she said.

National rowing coach M Hadris said the athletes had built discipline from their performance in Tokyo.

Kompas/Wawan H Prabowo

West Java rowers (right to left) Syiva Lisdiana, Anggi Widiarti, Nadia Izati Natasya, and Melani Putri were the fastest in the final rowing in the lightweight class number of four female rowers with a steering wheel (W4X) PON Papua 2021 in Youtefa Bay, Jayapura City, Thursday ( 7/10/2021).

He hoped the competitive momentum would continue after the Games, for which he saw the need for national athletes to be sent abroad either for competitions or training. (KEL)

(This article was translated by Musthofid).