The night before her competition on Monday morning, there was one thing that bothered Indonesian lifter Windy Cantika Aisah.

While she is competing in the women's 49-kilogram category at the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines, her father will be going into surgery.

“I was able to sleep last night but at 11, while I usually sleep at around nine,” Windy told journalists on Monday.

“My father said I don’t need to worry about his condition as there will be someone to watch over him. He said that I need to fight and give it my best.”

Even though her focus was divided, Windy did not let it control her. On Monday morning, Windy proved that she was among the best lifters in the region.

Despite being the youngest in her category, Windy was fearless as she entered Ninoy Aquino Stadium in the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex on Monday morning.

The 17-year-old, who inherited her talent in sports from her mother, dominated the women’s 49 kg by breaking the youth world record under her own name at both the snatch and clean and jerk categories, clinching the third gold medal for the Indonesian squad at the Philippines SEA Games.

Windy, whose mother is the 1988 World Weightlifting Championships bronze medalist Siti Aisah, showed her dominance from the beginning of the competition as she topped the leaderboards with a magnificent 86 kg lift in the snatch lift.

Her winning streak continued in the clean and jerk by lifting 104 kg, breaking a youth world record that she had set. Windy previously held the 84 kg snatch and 102 kg clean and jerk records.

“I thank God because this all because of Him. I dedicate [the medal] to my father as he went into surgery this morning, and also to my mother and to my country,” she said after the medal ceremony.

“My only job is to lift the barbell. I leave the strategy to my coach,” she said, commenting on her new record.

Windy exceeded far above her opponents and silver medalist Phyo Pyae Pyae from Myanmar who trailed with a 10 kg gap with a total lift of 180 kg. Vietnam’s Ngo Thi Nguyen followed in third place with 172 kg.

Winning the gold medal in her SEA Games’ debut meant a lot to her as she had gone through so many in the buildup to the Philippines battle.

On her way to her home after competing in the World Weightlifting Championships in Thailand in September, she was involved in a car accident; her car was struck by another car.

“We had a flat tire. And all of a sudden another car hit us and I think I could had died at that time. My car was a wreck,” she said.

Windy’s coach, Dirja Wihardja, applauded Windy’s performance as her record was almost equal to that of her senior, Sri Wahyuni, a silver medalist of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Sri, who is currently on maternity leave after giving birth to her first daughter, has a lifting record of 192 kg.

He went on to say that Windy was very disciplined in her training. She had been also been taught by her mother to manage her diet and sleeping pattern to be a successful athlete, he added.

“Her mother visited the training camp once a week, advising her on needs to be done as an athlete,” he said.

“For the Olympics, her training needs to be much harder. If she prepared 100 percent for the SEA Games, she would need to increase it to 120 percent for the Olympics.”

Windy has continued to beat her own record as her last stint at the senior level in the world championships resulted in a total life of 182 kg.

“After the SEA Games, we will evaluate her results. She has two other tournaments next year to qualify for the Olympics,” he said.

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