Before Thursday afternoon, not many Indonesians would have heard of a young sprinter named Lalu Muhammad Zohri.

The exquisite performance of 18-year-old Zohri went viral as he surprisingly snatched a gold medal in the men’s 100 meters at the 2018 IAAF U20 Championships after clocking in at 10.18 seconds in Tampere, Finland, on Wednesday.

Zohri dashed out and ran his personal best time, passing runner-ups Anthony Schwartz (10.22 seconds) and Eric Harrison (10.22) of the United States, as well as fourth finisher South Africa’s Thembo Monareng (10.23) and fifth-placed Dominic Ashwell of Great Britain (10.25).

It was truly a surprise win for all as Zohri, as shown in video footage shared by the IAAF, seemed to be looking for familiar faces to celebrate the victory for quite some time, before he was then ushered to take a picture with the Americans.

“I will party tonight!” he said as quoted on the IAAF website. “I’m very happy with my personal best and national junior record. Now, I will prepare for the Asian Games next month. I’m so proud — this was an amazing experience, and this is great for my career.”

At home, public figures, including President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, congratulated Zohri on social media for the achievement, as he is seen as a breath of fresh air for the country ahead of hosting the 18th Asian Games in August and September.

Jokowi shared his words on his Twitter account, saying that the victory was beyond the expectations of many as he was deemed an underdog at the championships.

In response to the celebration at home, Zohri tweeted: “Thank you all. I am sorry I cannot reply to all the messages.”

Zohri, who hails from Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), made history by becoming the first Indonesian to win a gold medal at the U20 worlds. Indonesia’s previous best performance was at the inaugural 1986 edition, when Indonesian Indra Nugraha reached the second round after clocking in 11.04 to finish eighth.

Zohri’s personal best in Tampere also showed significant progress, tailing just behind Indonesian Suryo Agung Wibowo, the holder of the Southeast Asian record with 10.17 seconds at the 2009 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Laos.

Coach Eni Nuraeni said she did not expect her runner would win the competition as she and the Indonesian Athletics Federation (PASI) did not want to burden him with such a high target.

“This is beyond our expectation. We just wanted him to qualify for the final round,” she said.

Eni went on to say that Zohri had displayed significant progress ever since he joined the national training camp earlier this year. Zohri showed that he had improved his technical skill, which played a big role in his overall performance, she added.

Zohri, an alumnus of the state-owned student training and educational center (PPLP) in Lombok, is set to race in the men’s 4x100 m relay in the upcoming Games.

Eni said that Zohri might also compete in the men’s 100 m. However, she had not yet decided which other event Zohri would compete in at the Games.

Before claiming the world championship title, Zohri won the men’s 100 m at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Gifu, Japan, in June.

Despite the sweet victory, PASI chairman Bob Hasan urged the public at home to remain calm over Zohri’s achievement in order to keep the athlete humble, especially for the Games.

“Public expectation can put too much pressure on him, which may cause him to underperform,” said Bob.

He revealed that Zohri almost missed the Finland race as he faced difficulty getting a visa.

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