When A Rival's Lives Are More Important Than Gold Medals

JAKARTA - Three days ago, it was reported that the Filipino athlete Roger Casugay preferred to save his Indonesian competitor, Arip Nurhidayat, rather than continuing the competition in the surfing sport of the 2019 SEA Games.

Casugay was willing to give up his chance to win a medal in the Men's Longboard Surfing branch, because he helped Arip who was rolled by the big waves of Monaliza beach in La Union, Subic, Philippines. Casugay rescues Arip and shares his surfboards to the shore.

This heroic action was immortalized by Jefferson Ganuelas, a local surfer on his personal Facebook page, before being uploaded again via the official Facebook page of the 2019 Philippines SEA Games. In the post, it was also mentioned that Casugay saved Arip, an Indonesian athlete from a big wave.

"In the midst of a men's openboard longboard surfing competition, Arip Nurhidayat's rope from Indonesia fell off and she was swept away by the waves. Roger Casugay from the Philippines came to rescue her, putting aside the ongoing competition for gold. This is how #WeWinAsOne should be. # 2019SEAGames #PHforOne , "said Jefferson Ganuelas on the official Facebook page of the 2019 SEA Games which was quoted on Sunday, December 8.

Through his tweets on social media Twitter, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) did not forget to convey his appreciation to Casugay. He also conveyed his respectful greetings to the Filipino surfer.

"Winning the competition is important, sports sportsmanship must also be upheld, but humanity above all else. Greetings from Indonesia," tweeted President Jokowi, Monday morning.

Winning competitions and upholding sportsmanship are important, but humanity above all else. My appreciation to Roger Casugay, the Filipino surfer who gave up the chance to win gold in order to help Indonesian athletes who fell in the race. Greetings from Indonesia. pic.twitter.com/5c5CJoccCQ

- Joko Widodo (@jokowi) December 9, 2019

Meanwhile, the President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) Indonesia, Raja Sapta Oktohari also appreciated the actions taken by Casugay.

"The Indonesian NOC would like to thank the NOC Philippines, especially Casugay, for showing the essence of a real friendly match. Winning or losing is important, but brotherhood and humanity are more important than that," said Raja Sapta in Manila as quoted by Antara.

The same thing was said by the Indonesian Contingent Commander or Chef de Mission (CdM) for the 2019 SEA Games, Harry Warganegara who also thanked him for the rescue.

"Yes, as the leader of the Indonesian Contingent, I would like to express my gratitude to Phisgoc and the leadership of the Philippine Contingent. We really appreciate the actions of the Filipino athlete," said Harry.