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Asian Para Games: Indonesian sprinters clean sweep women’s 100m titles
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Proud moment: Indonesian athletes Putri Aulia (right), Endang Sari Sitorus (center) and Ni Made Arianti Putri celebrate their victory in the women’s 100 meter sprint at the 2018 Asian Para Games at the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Senayan on Wednesday. (JP/Charisa Vanessa G.)
T
hree Indonesian para sprinters Putri Aulia, Ni Made Arianti Putri and Endang Sari Sitorus made history by sweeping all the medals in the women’s 100 meter T13 (visual impairment) on Wednesday night, stunning the home crowd at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on Wednesday.
Putri was the fastest, finishing the race in 12.49 seconds, followed by Arianti with 13.00, while Endang came in third place behind her compatriots with a time of 13.07 seconds.
Immediately after the race, the trio ran together with the Indonesian flag on their back, approaching the spectators’ area.
Putri, Arianti and Endang agreed that finishing together in the top three positions was beyond their expectation.
“When I saw there was a Japanese sprinter in the race, I was quite worried actually. But Putri assured me we could do it,” Endang recalled.
“Alhamdulillah [thank God], we finished top three,” she added.
Endang, the most senior of the three, also admitted to being a bit worried as she had to compete in a different class. Endang used to compete in the T12 category but now she was in the T13 category for athletes with less severe visual impairment.
The 26-year-old won three gold medals in the women’s 100m, 200m, and 400m at the 2015 ASEAN Para Games in Singapore.
At last year’s ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, she repeated her achievement in the 100m event.
Arianti and Putri started their international debut at the 2017 ASEAN Para Games, where they dominated the 100m, 200m and 400m. Putri won gold in those three events, with Arianti trailing behind her with silver also in those three categories.
Arianti, the youngest of the trio, could not hide her excitement as she thanked the public for their support.
She had believed since the beginning that she and her seniors could triumph at the competition.
Gold medal winner Putri, who has been attending the national training camp in Solo, Central Java since 2016, said the result was beyond her expectation as she had only targeted second place.
“I told Endang [before the competition] that we could finish in the top three. We are so proud of this achievement,” she said.
It was a sweet victory for the 24-year-old as the victory was on the same day as her father’s birthday.
“My father turned 47 today. I dedicate this medal to him,” said Putri, who has been running since she was in the fifth grade of elementary school.
Putri once stopped practicing the sport for several years as her parents was afraid it would disturb her studies.
All three sprinters said they wanted to compete at a higher level, setting a target of qualifying for the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
