Veddriq Leonardo, Olympic Gold Is Just A Matter Of Time

Veddriq Leonardo, Indonesia's first gold winner at the 2024 Paris Olympics (doc. NOC Indonesia).

JAKARTA - Veddriq Leonardo became the first athlete to win a gold medal for Indonesia at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The first gold contribution was presented by Veddriq from the sport (sports) of rock climbing number speed.

Veddriq's certainty of gold was obtained after the athlete defeated Chinese representative, Wu Peng, at Le Bourget Climbing Venue, Paris, on Thursday, August 8, 2024, WIB night. In that determination round, Veddriq posted a time of 4.75 seconds which means 0.02 seconds faster than Wu Peng.

With this achievement, Veddriq also managed to make history as the first athlete outside of badminton to win gold at the Olympics.

Throughout the previous Olympic history, Indonesia has collected eight gold which are recorded by five badminton sports numbers.

"I'm very happy. Thank God. Thank you Indonesian people. This sport is new, but given the trust and can be proven by winning gold."

"Thankful for this achievement. I am also proud of this achievement," said Veddriq.

"This gold medal is a blessing and this is also hard work, effort, dedication of all coaching teams, athletes, friends, and families who have provided prayers and support. This is also a gift for Indonesia on its 79th birthday," he said again.

Along with the achievement of Veddriq's proud achievements, not many people know the background of this 27-year-old athlete.

Veddriq is an athlete who was born on March 11, 1997 in Pontianak, West Kalimantan. He completed his education at Tanjungpura University.

His climbing talent began to be seen when Veddriq was in high school. He does rock climbing by trying out the boulder number, but it turns out that his talent and potential are more inclined to the speed number.

Since 2018, Veddriq has achieved brilliant achievements in rock climbing. Veddriq has won six World Championships.

He has been the athlete with the best record at the IFSC World Championship since the United States edition in 2021. Then, in the same year and event in Switzerland, he achieved a similar achievement.

The record was extended when he also won gold medals at the 2022 IFSC World Championships, South Korea 2022, South Korea 2023, and the United States 2023.

At the 2023 IFSC World Championship in South Korea, Veddriq set a world record as the fastest climbing athlete with a record time of 4.90 seconds. He achieved this record after climbing the 15-meter-high climbing wall and made him the first human in the world to officially climb with results under five seconds.

Veddriq's success cannot be separated from the determination and enthusiasm that exists in him. Veddriq did not give up in disciplining himself while practicing.

Veddriq even continued to practice despite being faced with serious obstacles. Veddriq's mother, Rosita, revealed that her son did not know obstacles and was persistent in practicing even while in his area in Kalimantan being hit by fog from forest and land fires (karhutla).

"Since childhood, Veddriq has been a very persistent and steadfast child. If he says A, then it must be A," Rosita said.

"In fact, when there was a forest fire in Kalimantan, he continued to practice under the fog that filled the skies of Kalimantan," he said.

Seeing Veddriq's track record, it is natural that the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics is already in his grasp.

Persistence in training hard has been proven by a series of achievements before appearing in Paris. His motivation to always be the best and fastest plus being able to appear without a burden is also the key to his success.

No wonder, the Olympic gold medal is actually just a matter of time. Now, it's proven. Veddriq is worthy!

Veddriq Leonardo's Achievements

Olympics: 1 Gold (2024 Olympics)

World Championships: 6 Times

IFSC 2021 United States

IFSC 2021 Switzerland

South Korea 2022 IFSC

IFSC 2022 United States

South Korea's IFSC 2023

IFSC 2023 United States

Asian Games: 1 Gold (Asian Games 2018)

PON: 1 Gold (PON Papua)