UNS — Many Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta students have myriads of achievements in academic and non-academic fields. In sports, Nanda Mei Sholihah, a Sports Coaching Education Program Faculty of Sports (FKOR) UNS student, won three gold medals in athletics ASEAN Para Games 2017 in Malaysia. However, her physical limitation does not stop the Torch Relay Asian Games 2018 bearer to continue striving.
The Beginning of Sport Career
Nanda started her career in sports at an 11-year age when the Chief of the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) of Kediri City was looking for a new athlete to be supervised. The NPC Chief visited Nanda directly to invite her to join NPC Kediri. “At the time, he looked for information about me, then visited me. He offered me to join, and my mother said to try it out,” Nanda explained.
From that time, every Saturday and Sunday, her father accompanied Nanda to train in Bawang Pesantren field, Kediri. Nanda’s affiliation with NPC Kediri City was close to the local competition of Walikota Cup Surabaya in 2010. In the competition, Nanda won her first gold medal in sports. She won gold for 100-meter, 200-meter, and long jump—an excellent achievement for an 11-years old athlete.
Achievement
Her first gold medal encouraged Nanda to train harder and became a motivation in her life. Nanda was also affiliated with Indonesia National Sports Committee (KONI) Kediri for training. She then joined the Surabaya region training and participated in the National Disability Student Sports Week (Pepcanas, now Pepapernas or National Paralympic Student Sports Week) in Riau in 2011. “Alhamdulillah, I won three gold medals in 100-meter, 200-meter, and long jump,” she said.
In the following year, she again represented East Java in National Paralympic Week (Peparnas) in Riau. In her first experience competing in Peparnas, Nanda won one silver medal for 100-meter and one bronze medal in the long jump. However, Nanda never stopped achieving a new record. In 2013 she was invited by the National Training Center (Pelatnas) to represent Indonesia in Asian Youth Para Games 2013 Malaysia on 26-30 October 2013. In the largest sports event for people with disabilities in Asia, she won three gold medals for 100-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter.
In 2014, she again represented Indonesia in 100 and 200 meters and one bronze in 400-meters. In the same event the following year, in Singapore, she brought home three gold medals in 100-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter. “This is my first gold medal in ASEAN Para Games,” she revealed. This, however, wasn’t her last medal in ASEAN Para Games. In Malaysia ASEAN Para Games 17-23 September 2017, she again won three gold medals in 100-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter.
In 2016, Nanda won three medals for East Java in Peparnas 2016 di Bandung in 100-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter. In the 2018 Asian Para Games Jakarta, Nanda represented Indonesia for the second time in the Asian sports event. However, she was injured and should retreat from the rest of the championship.
Family Support
Nanda mentioned that the key to rising from other people’s doubts is keeping trying and showing the best efforts. Family supports also plays a vital role in the process. She mentioned that her parents fully support her career in sports and, from the beginning, suggested she tries the field. “Every day, my father accompanied me to train after he came back from selling,” she said.
She also said that parents are her key motivation to continue striving. “My dream is to make my parents proud, to improve their standing, even more, when I remember their struggle to educate me. When I felt tired with training, I always remember my main objective, my parents,” she added.
Rejected by Schools
Nand’s childhood was filled with rejection that left marks in her memories. Her most memorable rejection was when a preschool rejected her. She also felt that she received different treatment. “I could not do that or this, and even rejected by the school because of my condition,” she remembered. The school insisted that Nanda receive special education and suggested that her parents put her in a special school (SLB).
“My parent brought me here and there because schools rejected me. I was emotional, sad, and the anger still lingers to this day,” she revealed.
Her parents never gave up. Their strong will to have their daughter schooled with children without physical limitations came true, and Nanda studied in regular school until High School. Nanda shared her feelings about receiving different treatments from other children, which she doesn’t like. “Our fellows with disabilities do not need pity. They don’t need different treatment; they only need access. So, let them do anything. They could, but there is no access. This makes them unwilling to go out; they are ashamed,” she added.
Time Management
Pursuing a career in the sports field since young demands Nanda to manage her time for studying and training, especially nearing a championship when she needs to go back to the national training center. She is grateful that her teachers and friends always supported her. They allowed her to send assignments through e-mail and only went back during the exam. “After the exam, I went back to Solo (Pelatnas). Everyone fully supports (me), (they) informed me of assignments, if (I) didn’t understand they explained. During the offline university class, usually classes finished at 1 or 2 pm, I started training at 3 pm,” she explained.
Every day, Nanda needs to train in the morning and afternoon. So she managed her time by taking classes around 9 am to 2 pm and used 6 am to 8 am for morning training and 3 pm for afternoon training. “Now, with online classes, it is more flexible,” the Kediri girl said.
Memorable Experience
Nanda shared that her most memorable event was the 2015 ASEAN Para Games in Singapore, when she won her first gold in South East Asia. She also remembered the 2018 Asian Para Games when she had extensive training but failed to participate due to an injury. “It was a valuable lesson for me, safety in training is vital,” she stated.
Nanda hopes that her story will bring more benefits and inspire more people. “Like, come look at me, people with disabilities are not limited. Do what makes you happy, as long as that is positive, do it. For my fellows with disabilities, everybody has strengths and weaknesses. So when we know our strengths, we could hone that to cover our weaknesses,” she reminded.
“If we with disabilities could do it, why you can’t,” the ASEAN Para Games 2017 gold medalist stated. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti