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Asian Para Games: Sapto gives up mutton soup to break record
Giving up tengkleng may have contributed to Sapto’s success at the Jakarta Para Games — he won two gold medals and set two records.
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Happy face: Indonesia’s Sapto Yogo Purnomo celebrates after winning the men’s 100 meter T37 race at the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday. Sapto also broke the Asian record. (INAPGOC/Herka Yanis Pangaribowo)
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n order to maintain peak physical condition ahead of the 2018 Asian Para Games, sprinter Sapto Yogo Purnomo pledged to avoid eating his favorite dish,tengkleng (mutton rib soup), while training at the national camp in Surakarta, Central Java.
Sapto, 20, said he had gradually reduced his intake of the Surakarta signature dish despite his fondness of it. The dish is rich in flavor but heavy in ingredients that most athletes would avoid overconsuming while training.
“I got bored sometimes when I was at the camp. I chose to go on a culinary adventure to kill the boredom with my coaches. Eating out a bowl of tengklenghad been my favorite,” he said.
Giving up tengkleng may have contributed to Sapto’s success at the Jakarta Para Games — he won two gold medals and set two records.
Competing in the T37 category (coordination impairment) in track, Sapto earned on Monday his first gold medal when he clocked in at 23.76 seconds in the men’s 200 meters. On Tuesday, he won his second gold in the men’s 100 m, breaking an Asian record with a time of 11.49 seconds. The previous record of 11.51 seconds was set by China’s Liang Yongbin at the 2012 Paralympics in London.
Besides having a disciplined diet, Purwokerto-born Sapto has shown the world that the key to his success was perseverance.
He started training only three years ago when his physical education teacher at his vocational high school encouraged him to join a local sports club for people with disabilities.
“I joined a running club in my hometown after my teacher encouraged me to practice the sport,” he said.
“The distance between the training course and my home is quite far. I have to take an ojek [motorcycle taxi] to get there.”
After passing several selection tests, he joined the National Paralympic Committee squad and began training at the national camp in Surakarta, Central Java. His international debut was in 2017 when he competed at the ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur. He won two gold medals, one each in the 100 m and 200 m events.
Sapto has shown a gradual improvement year in and year out.
In Kuala Lumpur, he finished the 100 m race in 11.76 seconds. At this year’s Jakarta Para Games, he shaved down his time to 11.49 seconds.
Now, Sapto has his heart set on finishing in 11.30 seconds.
Whenever he is away from the Surakarta camp, Sapto maintains his fitness by training with his coach in his hometown.
He said maintaining endurance was the main reason as to why he trained even on off days, as failing to stick to a routine workout regime would cause his fitness level to drop.
Outside the field, Sapto loves to tinker with automotive items. An automotive major at his vocational school, he said he planned to establish his own automotive workshop using his bonus money from the Games.
Behind his achievements, Sapto revealed that he had struggled throughout his teenage life. He often missed school because many of his classmates bullied him.
“In my junior high school year, I started to fight back when someone insulted my condition,” he said.
“When I missed school, I usually went to a river. I just sat there and came back home in the afternoon.”
