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Indonesia had never had a finalist at the U20 World Championships in Finland, let alone a junior world champion.
Lalu Muhammad Zohri of Indonesia. (Photo by Reuters)
JAKARTA: A little over a year ago, Indonesian sprinter Lalu Muhammad Zohri could hardly afford running shoes and was virtually unheard of outside his little one village on the eastern island of Lombok. Earlier this month, the 18-year-old orphan produced a dazzling arrival to beat the cream of the world's junior sprint talent in the 100-meter final at the U-20 World Championships in Finland [19659004]. At the championships, not to mention a junior world champion, and Zohri quickly became overwhelmed by the hopes of a nation before the Asian Games organization.
The sudden rise of Zohri to the rank of Some 260 million people is clearly still a shock to the teenager discreetly spoken.
"It was beyond my imagination to be invited to meet the government, the ministers and the president," he told R "I am very proud and grateful."
Indonesian President Joko Widodo praised Zohri as a "collective inspiration for the nation's athletes to reach gold". the Asian Games and ordered the ministers to renovate his humble woven bamboo house.
The teenager, however, is not confident about his chances of winning another gold medal at the Asian Games, which will be held in Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to 28. September 2nd.
"I think (the Asian Games) will be tough because the competition is tight and I'm going against the older guys who are more experienced and can finish the race in less than 10 seconds," added Zohri. Zohri reduced his personal best by 10.25 seconds by winning his world title in Tampere, leaving him only one hundredth of a second over Suryo Agung Wibowo's Indonesia.
To win gold in the 100 meters on the Gelora Bung Karno stadium track next month, he will likely have to beat Nigerian Qatari Femi Ogunade and Chinese sprinters Su Bingtian and Xie Zhenye, all of whom
The president of the Athletics Association of Indonesia, Bob Hasan, thinks that Zohri will also be able to cross the 10-second mark, but he is not sure that the Asian Games be the right step for such talent. "We are still deciding with Lalu's coaches that it might be better to get him to participate in the Asian Junior Games," he told Reuters.
"He is still very young, we have almost no visa to go to Finland, we had to give him a guarantee because his parents are no more."
Hasan declared that Zohri , who lost his parents when he was a child, had struggled with food in Finland, leading to the Indonesian ambassador "
" Barefoot on the Beach "
Zohri is already became an icon in his home village of Karang Pangsor where the sandy coast provides him with "
" I ran barefoot on the beach, into the water with water until I reached the beach. calves. I never wanted to give up, "he recalled.
A billboard celebrating his world title now adorns the entrance to the village, a triumph of neighbors and parents gathered in front of the house. family home to watch on TV. "From the beginning, I saw that this boy was very agile and that his posture and his limbs were superior to those of his friends," says Rosidah, the former teacher
"It was in 2013, he was not great, but I knew he had talent. "
Zohri's older sister, Baiq Fazilah, proudly keeps all her medals and trophies at home.
" He always keeps silent and only tells me what he needs. His only request came in 2017 when he was invited to train with the national team and he asked his sister for a loan of 400 000 rupiah (US $ 27.75) to buy some of them. each.
Zohri's success has made him the country's most recognizable athlete and means that he can command much more than this modest amount.
As Tigor Tanjung, Indonesia Athletics' chief executive, explains, these transactions can sometimes cause disarray among the Zohri.
"Air Asia said that they want to sponsor him, I told Lalu and he asked me if they were sponsoring him to become a pilot," he said. laughing
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