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| sumber foto:sportku.com |
Successful athletes and top executives have things in common: hard work,
persistent, optimist, and focused. We can see those qualities in Risa Suseanty,
a downhill champion from Bandung who has earned the nickname Queen of Downhill.
Risa started falling in love with the sport in the third
grade. When she first knew about downhill in 1996, she remembered the sport as an
unpopular one with small number of athletes because at the time people think of
cycling as a fun outdoor activity. “Before downhill, I like cross country. But
I have more achievements in downhill.”
When asked about her most memorable competition, she thought
immediately about Sea Games.
“Sea Games 2003 was an unforgettable moment for me. The
official committee cheated our team. We cannot try and train due to their
prohibition to enter the track. They even threatened us by pointing weapon.
They had ambition to win Sea Games, by using variety ways including cheating.
So, they were the winner.”
She won her first downhill gold medal in Sea Games 1997 in
Jakarta. She often represents Indonesia in regional competitions and West Java
in National Sports Week (PON). She won gold at Sea Games 2011 in Palembang.
“My first competition in foreign country was in 1994, in
Australia,” Risa says recalling that she wanted to go and compete in Europe or
America but the need of funding kept her away from her dreams. “It’s not easy
to live in the US and Europe for few months without any sponsorship,” she
admits, regretting the lack of support from Indonesian government and private
institutions to downhill athletes.
Sporty at School
Unfortunately for her, school and sport didn’t go well
together. During her first years as athlete, she had to be absent frequently,
making it hard to graduate. She passed exams with minimum marks. So, she
enrolled at Ragunan High School, in which the school has a special program that
caters to teen athletes. She can balance
the sports and formal study at that school. Aside from having a regular
training, Risa had the flexibility to take school exam adjustable to her
presence at any sports events. “Sometimes my examination was in Subang, and
occassionally in Malang.”
Sport has always been in her life. Prior to embarking on
downhill, young Risa took private courses in badminton. She always thought
she’d focus on badminton and be a national athlete. Being born into a
sport-enthusiast family has its own downside. Despite having discipline and
focus taught at a young age, Risa admits she had little time to hang out with
her peers.
“Whenever my friends asked me to play, I was still skipping,
sitting up or doing some exercises. Sport was my life. My brothers love sports.
Their hobbies include badminton, roller blade and doing other sports. I chose badminton,”
she recalls.
Compared to her friends, Risa always had good marks in PE. Her schedule consists of playing badminton on
weekdays and cycling on weekends. Although she loves badminton, she’s more
interested in cycling, especially in cross country. Eventually, Risa decided to
focus on downhill and let her badminton career go.
Social Biking
For Risa, biking is not only a sport, but also a social
life. The sport brings together people from different backgrounds, education
levels, professions, organizations and social statuses. They can make friends
each other regardless who or what they are, thanks to biking which act as a
communication device for them.
“Sport, especially biking, is part of my life. I want to
have second career that also relates to biking. Currently, I’m actively
involved in social biking. I ‘m often invited by companies to be speaker on
their talk shows.”
Risa wants to create riding trips. It means people can
travel to any places by biking. She also does coaching clinics. In Europe, for
example, some companies encourage their staff to bike to work by giving
incentives. In her opinion, it is an effective way to socialize biking.
“Besides motivating people to bike, social biking can create
a fun trip for travelers,” she suggests.
Risa is pure sport lover. Besides ‘land sport’ such as
badminton and biking, she also loves a ‘marine sport’. “I like diving. I often
dive in Raja Ampat.” Perhaps she should
try skydiving next.
(Soewarna Digest 18th)
