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Asian Para Games: Suparniyati proud of gold despite falling short of target
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Suparniyati (The Jakarta Post/Seto Wardhana)
S
uparniyati, aka Parni, had mixed feelings after winning her first gold medal in the women’s shot put F20 (intellectual impairment) category at the Asian Para Games.
She set a new Asian Para Games record with a throw of 10.75 meters and beat the 10.71 m that was recorded by a Malaysian shot put athlete at the 2012 London Paralympics.
Despite this, she was disappointed that she did not exceed her personal best of 11.03 m.
“I still can’t synchronize my heart and my mind. My mentality was not strong enough I think. I couldn’t really listen to anyone during the Games as I was shaking,” she said on Monday.
Words of motivation from her coach seemed to lift her spirits only a bit. Parni was nervous in the two days prior to the competition.
As Parni’s emotions were visible, her roommate Rica Oktavia, who won gold in the women’s long jump T20, reminded her not to overthink things.
“I can’t sleep well as I worry too much,” she said.
The morning before she came to the field to represent the country, her mother called her and asked her to calm down, but the nervousness did not go away.
“My mom told me to focus and she said, ‘Don’t be afraid’. But, still, I cannot beat my own nerves,” Parni said.
Competing in front of a home crowd seemed unbearable for the 25-year-old, as she felt the pressure was stronger compared to competing overseas.
In her international debut at the 2017 ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur, Parni said she felt more relaxed as she did not know anybody there.
“I immediately feel nervous if someone calls my name, let alone screams it,” she said.
Her loose state in Kuala Lumpur helped her earn the gold medal in the same category and the personal best.
“The hardest part is not winning the medal, but beating yourself up. And I don’t want to disappoint people who have believed in me like my coach and my mom,” Parni added.
Suparniyati is the youngest daughter in her family and she has seven siblings, all of whom are married. She was introduced to shot put during her first year in elementary school by her physical education teacher.
Parni was called up to the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) in Surakarta, Central Java, in 2011 but refused to train as she did not know anyone there.
She then started training with the NPC in February 2017 after learning that her friend Rica was also called up.
Her achievement at this year’s Asian Para Games brings her closer to her plan to build a house for her mother Wagiah, a tempeh seller who lives in Beringin Jaya village, Riau. Her father passed away a couple of years ago.
“My mom always told me to not mind what people say. You know, with my condition, people like to make fun of me,” she said.
“I only have one dream, which is to make my mom proud.”
