Eighteen-year-old Lalu Muhammad Zohri, an orphan from Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), has set Indonesia abuzz with his stunning gold medal win in the men’s 100 meters at the 2018 IAAF Under-20 Championships in Tampere, Finland on Wednesday.
Zohri clocked 10.18s, a personal best, for the sprint gold, which is also new national junior record and was quoted on the IAAF website as saying “this was an amazing experience and great for my career.”
With Indonesia playing host to the coming Asian Games in August, Zohri has become the talk of Indonesia and a possible gold medal from him in the Asiad.
Indonesia President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, in congratulating Zohri on his win, has also ordered the relevant authorities to do the necessary and build a proper house from the dilapidated conditions where he stays with his sister.
The Jakarta Post revealed that Zohri’s time in winning the gold in Finland is just behind Indonesian Suryo Agung Wibowo who did 10.17s in winning the gold medal at the 2009 Laos SEA Games.
Zohri’s success has been hailed as “breath of fresh air” for the Asian Games. Indonesia is the world’s fourth-most-populous country but rarely won laurels in international track and field competitions, the Jakarta Post said in an editorial.
Zohri is also won the Asian Junior Athletics Championships men’s 100m gold and this was in Gifu, Japan in June. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
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