JAKARTA - A number of Indonesian athletic athletes are now preparing to face the 2023 SEA Games. Some of them must be willing to be separated away from their families.
This is what Indonesian sprinter Lalu Muhammad Zohri felt. He again had to widen away from his family in North Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, for the sake of the state's duties.
For Zohri, this is nothing new. As an athlete, he had to put aside this desire in order to fly the Red and White on the international stage, including at the 32rd edition of the SEA Games in Cambodia.
"Indeed, if Lebaran is not at home, it is normal. Many friends (athletes) here are also far from their hometowns. That is not a problem because we are used to it," Zohri told Antara, as quoted on Saturday, April 15.
As a substitute, Zohri filled the warmth on Victory Day by gathering with fellow athletes from fellow residents of the athletic national training camp (pelatnas).
This year, they plan to celebrate Lebaran at the home of a special athletic trainer for short-distance running number, Eni Nuraeni.
"We, if Eid, are invited by Mrs. Eni to gather and eat there," said Zohri.
Meanwhile, to let go of longing with family in NTB, Zohri usually makes video calls. "Now it's sophisticated. So I definitely video call family to talk and others," he added.
Similar conditions also occurred last year. At that time Zohri was also in preparation for the XXXI/2021 SEA Games in Vietnam which will take place in 2022.
"As an athlete, you must be ready to compete and make preparations anywhere. So I will focus on the 2023 SEA Games and maybe after that return to my hometown," concluded Zohri.
Zohri is one of the athletes who is undergoing preparations for Cambodia. He is scheduled to compete in the men's 100-meter and men's 4x100-meter relay and it is possible to compete in the 200-meter number.
The 22-year-old sprinter hopes to improve his achievements when appearing in Cambodia. "There are currently no obstacles. Hopefully, until the Cambodian SEA Games onwards there will be no problems. Hopefully, he can perform optimally in Cambodia later," said Zohri.
Last year at the Vietnam SEA Games, Zohri suffered a hamstring injury. This condition interfered with his performance so that he failed to donate medals to the Red and White Contingent, especially in the 100-meter mainstay number.
Zohri was only able to finish sixth with a time of 10.59 seconds. Gold belongs to Puripol Boonson from Thailand with 10.44 seconds, silver is also won by the representative of the Soraoat Dapbang White Elephant Country with 10.56 seconds, and bronze belongs to Singaporean sprinter Marc Brian Louis with 10.56 seconds.
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