A debutant at the biggest sporting event in Asia, 19-year-old Edgar Xavier Marvello did not expect he would be the first athlete from Indonesia to win a medal for his country at the 18th Asian Games before the home crowd.

When the scoreboard showed 9.72 after he finished his moves in the men’s Changquan competition at the Jakarta International Expo in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, on Sunday, he could not hide his excitement as he walked off the field with an ear-to-ear smile on his face.

The joy continued when his coaches Novita and Susyana Tjhan hugged Edward when he arrived to give a press briefing.

“I am speechless,” he said while still trying to catch his breath. “I present this medal to my parents, my family, my coaches and also to Indonesia.”

It is the first silver for the country at the quadrennial event. Edgar was only 0.03 points behind Chinese athlete Sun Peiyuan, who brought home the gold medal after scoring 9.75. Tsemin Tsai of Chinese Taipei finished third with a score of 9.70.

Edgar’s success was a nice surprise for the Indonesian wushu team, as the coaches had not set any target for him, let alone a medal target.

Head coach Novita admitted that Edgar’s achievement had surpassed the team’s expectations, as he had just begun to compete at the senior level last year.

“To finish in the top three would be amazing, since [we know] China, Hong Kong and Macau deployed their best athletes,” she told journalists before the medal ceremony.

Edgar’s love story with wushu, which originates from China, began in his childhood when he found joy in watching Mandarin movie actors like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li in action movies.

His curiosity increased after he found out that his elementary school offered wushu as an extracurricular activity. Fortunately, his fondness of the sport was supported by his family.

“My parents always accompany me to my training sessions,” he said.

After deciding to seriously pursue the sport, Edgar was given a chance to represent the country at the 2010 World Wushu Junior Championship in Singapore, where he won the gold medal in the men’s Gunshu C category.

His talent as one of the country’s promising athletes was proven when he showed another achievement at the senior level.

He proved well placed the trust of his coaches through his achievement at the 2017 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur, where he bagged bronze in the men’s Changquan competition.

He continued to build his track record at the 2017 World Championship in Kazan, Russia, by winning a silver medal in the men’s Daoshu competition.

Coach Ahmad Rifai, who has been accompanying his protégé since the junior level, said Edgar had done his best, as he demonstrated a fighting spirit despite his lack of experience at the senior level.

“He was not prioritized for winning a gold medal, but, [as you can see], anything can happen in wushu, especially in the Taolu category, [which requires focus] to avoid shakiness [in the movement],” he said.

Edgar thanked Indonesian supporters that had come to the venue on the first day of the wushu competitions, as their cheers helped shoo away his nervousness.

“Honestly, I was really nervous before coming to the venue. I was shaking. But when I saw the crowd, their support definitely increased my fighting spirit,” he said.

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