Proud To Be The First Female Athlete To Carry The SEA Games Flag, Emilia Nova: I Am Honored

Women's hurdler Emilia Nova (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The female hurdler Emilia Nova is proud to be the first female athlete to carry the Red and White flag at the opening ceremony of the Southeast Asian SEA Games sporting event.

"I feel like I'm honored and very proud because not all athletes have the opportunity to become a flag bearer, and moreover, this is the first time for women because they are usually men," said Emilia as quoted by Antara, Friday, April 29.

When asked about the clothes she will wear at the opening of the Vietnam SEA Games on May 12 in Hanoi, Emilia said she did not know for sure because it would be prepared by the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI).

However, he does not mind wearing a kebaya or wearing traditional West Sumatran clothing, from Emilia.

"The bottom line is sports shoes, because if I wear heels, I'm afraid I'll get blisters, my feet will hurt, right, I'm afraid it will backfire," said Emilia, who won a gold medal at the 82nd Singapore Open Track & Field Championships 2022 in Singapore on April 16-17 .

By being the flag bearer in the opening ceremony, Emilia hopes to be able to fly the Red and White again in the match she is participating in.

"This is also my prayer and way so that at the SEA Games I can fly the red and white flag in Vietnam," said Emilia.

At the Hanoi SEA Games, Emilia Nova was determined to defend the women's 100-meter hurdles gold medal she won in the previous edition in the Philippines 2019. At that time, Emil contributed a gold medal after being in the forefront with a record time of 13.61 seconds.

Chef de Mission (CdM) Indonesian contingent for the SEA Games Vietnam Ferry J. Kono said the selection of flag-bearing athletes in the opening ceremony was carried out on a panel from the CdM team.

"When collected, the conditions are that the athlete is free from competing on the 12th, and does not interfere with the preparation process so that it is considered from certain sports that only compete on the 14th, there are basketball, swimming, athletics," said Ferry.

"Judging from that, the team decided to then look at the achievements so that our red and white flag bearers have the opportunity to bring home a medal."

According to Ferry, there will be 30 Indonesian participants for the defile in the opening ceremony of the Vietnam SEA Games.

"We will use different clothes, later we will represent our Indonesian cultural treasures from 34 provinces," said Ferry.