West Sumatra Athlete's Injury Rate At PON Papua 2021 Highest, Doctor: I've Been On Duty Since PON 2000 And This Time Is The Busiest

West Sumatra contingent doctor Dr. dr. Afriwardi sees the condition of the injured athlete (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The contingent doctor of West Sumatra, Dr. dr. Afriwardi said the injury rate for West Sumatra athletes at the XX Papua National Sports Week (PON) was the highest compared to the previous PON.

"The athlete's injury rate at this PON is quite high. I have been a health team since PON 2000, and at this PON the doctors and massage teams are the busiest, especially in Jayapura City, Jayapura Regency and Merauke," Afriwardi said, as quoted by Antara, Wednesday.

According to him, indeed in every PON implementation there are several athletes who are injured while competing, but the intensity is not as high as in this year's PON.

"Besides the lucky draw, this signifies the extraordinary struggle of the athletes. If we call it a lack of physical preparation, it's also not because the athletes' conditions are almost the same with each other," said Afriwardi.

The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Andalas University (Unand) said that currently the condition of the West Sumatra athletes who suffered injuries had been handled properly.

"Alhamdullilah, currently the condition of our injured athletes has improved," said Afriwardi.

The struggle of the West Sumatra sports ambassadors at PON XX Papua is extraordinary. Some athletes even ignore the injuries they suffered while competing.

Among them, there were those who cried when the referee or coach stopped the match because they were deemed unable to continue the match due to the injury they suffered.

Several Tuah Sakato athletes also failed to continue their struggle on the battlefield due to injuries, including athletes from muaythai, hang gliding, taekwondo and pencak silat.

Meanwhile in Merauke Regency, there was Renggi Lukmana, who had a broken toe and bruises and had to be put in a cast due to falling twice in a team and individual motorcycle race.

Then the wrestling athlete Delfita who was willing to postpone her ligament surgery just to fight in the Papua National Sports Week. He even had time to be replaced while undergoing training camp (TC) due to the injury. Then before the final round, the PB PON team doctor advised him not to compete, but Delfita insisted on running the match and won silver for West Sumatra.

After that, there was also wrestler Gilang Ilhaza who also suffered a ligament injury in his right finger. He had to endure the pain as best he could throughout the match, from the preliminary round to the final. His fingertips could not be moved and seemed to be loose. However, with the help of the masseur contingent, he also tried hard to produce the best and won silver in the number 74 kilograms of men's freestyle wrestling.