TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Gold medalist Ivana goes for broke
Ivana Ardelia Irmanto was disappointed by her failure to win a gold medal at the National Games last August
Change Size
Ivana Ardelia Irmanto was disappointed by her failure to win a gold medal at the National Games last August. But she learned a valuable lesson from the loss to inspire herself to a victory at the World Junior Wushu Championship on Friday.
Competing in the nandao event, Ivana used her sword powerfully to strike gold with a score of 9.20 points. She came out on top over See Min of Malaysia with 9.05 points and Maryam Esmati Khodabandeh of Iran with 8.85 points.
"I did not let myself get distracted by the high expectations. I just played as best as I could.
"During the National Games, I set myself the target of a gold medal. That ended up being a burden. In fact, I lost and brought home only silver," Ivana said while waiting for the medal presentation.
It was an improved performance for the 15-year-old athlete from Yogyakarta after winning only bronze on Thursday. "It was a tough field against a Chinese competitor on Thursday," she said.
This gold has turned out to be Ivana's greatest achievement after she managed only a silver at the Asian championship in South Korea early this year.
Her commitment to the sport has finally paid dividends.
"She has faced many hurdles with this sport. She sacrificed her youth and education," coach Andy S said.
Andy said that Ivana's junior high school, in which she is in the third grade, had initially barred her from joining the training camp in Medan. They later gave in after Ivana promised to take a break to return home for the school examination.
Since taking up the sport when she was only six, Ivana, one of four siblings, has honed her wushu skills at the Sindoadi wushu camp.
"The sport began to attract me when my sister used to ask me to go along with her to train," she said.
Ivana, recognized as talented and motivated, is the only one of Sindoadi's 80 members to have been chosen for the national team for the championship.
"She has high motivation that has driven her to her high position," Andy said.
For the future, Ivana said she looked forward to improving performance and was hoping for a chance to train in Beijing. -- JP/Musthofid
