Depok-Barijani Mahesa Putra, a student of the Public Relations (PR) Study Program, Universitas Indonesia (UI) Vocational Education Program managed to win 5 (five) medals –2 (two) gold medals, 2 (two) silver medals, and 1 (one) bronze medal– from five events in roller skating at the XX National Sports Week (PON) in Jayapura City, Papua. “It is an honor to be able to defend DKI Jakarta Province in the 2021 Papua PON event. I am very excited and nervous because this is my first experience participating in the biggest national sport event in Indonesia. From the start, I have targeted to be a champion in all the numbers that I participate in. I also want to say thank you very much to the Universitas Indonesia who has participated in supporting me during the PON,” said Mahesa.
Earlier this week, Mahesa contributed a gold medal from the Men’s 10 km Team Time Trial (TTT); Men’s 3,000m Relay silver medal; and the men’s 42 km Marathon bronze medal. Previously, at the Klemen Tinal Roller Sport Arena, Jayapura City, Papua, Mahesa won a gold medal in the Men’s 500M+D Sprint event in 44,000 seconds and a silver medal in the Men’s 500m ITT (Individual Time Trial) with a record time of 41,859 seconds.
Mahesa’s journey to become a roller skate athlete cannot be separated from the support of his parents as well as his efforts and hard work. According to him, since 2013 he has been focusing on rollerblading and intensive training, until in 2016 he was finally chosen to be part of Plat D DKI Jakarta, Roller Skating Sports Branch.
Mahesa added that he and the DKI Jakarta Provincial contingent left for Papua on August 15, 2021 to train for two weeks before competing. This is so that they adapt to the weather and the field there. “Mastery of the field is very important for athletes, and it is proven by the length of practice on the field with DKI Jakarta’s achievements that dominate the match,” he said.
Director of Student Affairs UI, Dr. Badrul Munir, Ph.D., expressed his appreciation and was very proud of Mahesa’s achievements. “UI supports every positive activity of its academic community. I quoted the UI Rector’s message, to be able to win the competition, it is not enough just to have cognitive abilities, it needs to be supported by high soft skills such as working in teams, building networks, and various other abilities. Hopefully this achievement will spur the enthusiasm of other UI academics in achieving achievements,” he said.[:]
