Medal winner Indri following in the footsteps of her father
Medal winner Indri following in the footsteps of her father
BANGKOK (JP): Sri Indriyani may not be as well-known as the
Indonesian badminton players, but the weight lifter stole the
limelight after winning the country's first medal at the 13th
Asian Games.
Making her Asiad debut, the diminutive Indriyani took a bronze
medal in the 48-kilogram division with a total lift of 180
kilograms.
However, Indri, as her friends call her, admits she was once
reluctant to train. It was her father, Moelyadi, a former
weight lifter, who encouraged her to take up the sport.
"First, I just watched my father training, but finally I
started to train in 1989 and I enjoyed it," the 20-year-old
remembers.
She says that her mother, Darmini, also plays a key role in
her successful career.
Indri, who was born in Surakarta, Central Java, on Nov. 12,
1978, joined the weigh lifting club in Pringsewu, Lampung in 1995
and began to train under the tutelage of top national coach Imron
Rosadi.
She says that she was obsessed with making money from the
sport and buying a motorcycle when she decided to follow in her
father's footsteps.
Eventually, a blend of Imron's patience and Indri's talent
paid off. Indri won three gold medals at the 1996 Asian Junior
Championships in Seoul, and in the same year she also won three
golds in the World Junior Championships in Warsaw.
A year later, she defended her title at the World Junior
Championships in Cape Town.
She competed for the first time as a senior in the 1997
Southeast Asian Games in Jakarta, and won a gold with a record-
breaking lift.
Indri, an employee at the state-owned PT Pos Indonesia in
Lampung, said that she did not want to think about a cash bonus
for her medal. The National Sports Council has promised Rp 15
million (US$2,000) for a bronze medal.
"I don't want people to think that I'm a money-oriented
woman."
The eldest of three girls, Indri realizes that her career
still has a long way to go.
"My main goal is to qualify for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney,
with God's blessing," she said.
She was granted a scholarship from Olympic Solidarity in
October. (yan)