Two silvers, two different countries
Two silvers, two different countries
Raf Casert Associated Press/Athens
Eight years after Atlanta, the color of Mia Audina's Olympic medal may be the same - silver. Just about everything else in her life is different.
The badminton player who won her first Olympic medal at Atlanta as a 16-year-old prodigy for Indonesia earned second place on Thursday as a seasoned adult for her adopted country the Netherlands.
What lies in between is a story that ties the Netherlands with its former colonies in Asia and South America, family heartbreak, devout belief, and the love of sport that binds all.
"This medal means that I am still on the right track. And after all these years it is something which is not that easy to say," Audina said.
Badminton is to the 210 million Indonesians what soccer is to Brazil and baseball to the United States. And, as a teenager, there was none better than Audina.
Susi Susanti became a national icon when she won badminton's first gold at Barcelona in 1992. When Audina gave Indonesia the vital point to win the world team Uber Cup in 1994 as a mere 14- year old, Susanti's succession seemed assured. People were thronging the streets just to get close to her.
Two years later, she gave Indonesia silver in Atlanta to become the youngest Olympic medalist in the sport.
Then things started to go badly wrong for her.
A deeply religious woman, she went to church one day to listen to Tylio Lobman, a Dutch-born Christian gospel singer whose heritage is from Suriname - like Indonesia a former Dutch colony. It was love at first sight.
There was opposition to the international relationship and the media, centering on their superstar, kept on glaring. "There was a lot of pressure," said Lobman.
Within her family too, rifts emerged. Then Audina's mother got sick and she spent months caring for her, neglecting the ruthless training regimen top badminton players have to maintain.
Her mother died in 1999 and soon afterward the Indonesian badminton federation removed her from the team. She had sunk in the world rankings and needed major change in her life.
"One factor alone can ruin a sporting career," said her husband Lobman. "The death of her mother was that. We had to decide whether to continue grieving or start all anew."
They took the decision to leave everything behind and start fresh in Lobman's Netherlands.
With deep belief in God and her abilities, she started the long road back to the elite of her sport in a country half a world away. She gained citizenship and started working hard on her game.
At 24, it all paid off with a second silver.
"It is because of hard work, an ironclad mentality, extreme perseverance and a lot of faith in God," Lobman said.
Not to mention the support of a whole nation.
The Netherlands has long become a multicultural community and the fans have adopted Audina as their own.
During her loss to Zhang Ning on Thursday, Dutch fans were continuously shouting "Mia, Mia, Mia" in the Goudi Olympic hall, and after the final she was mobbed by orange-clad fans who embraced her.
"She is great. So open and totally Dutch," said fan Fer van der Hurk.
Lobman said that after the silver on Thursday, some Indonesians in the hall kept referring to her as "our Mia."
"Not too many people can say that they have given two different countries silver," she said.