Zohri Eyes the Olympics

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Indonesian Sprinter Lalu Muhammad Zohri attends a training session at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Monday (8/4/2019). Zohri, who won the gold medal at the 2019 Malaysian Grand Prix on Saturday, has returned to train and is focusing on subsequent championships, including the 2019 SEA Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Lalu Muhammad Zohri is phenomenal. After winning the U-20 world gold medal in Finland in July 2018, Zohri managed to sharpen his record to 10.13 seconds.

His achievement at the Asian Athletics Championship in Doha, Qatar, makes Zohri the fastest runner in Southeast Asia. Zohri twice improved the men’s 100 meter run national record, which was held by Suryo Agung (10.17 seconds). In the semifinals, Zohri set a new national record with 10.15 seconds and in the final he ran for 10.13 seconds to win the silver medal.

Zohri is indeed extraordinary. He only recently joined the national athletic training center in December 2017, with a top time of 10.30 seconds. In just seven months, Zohri, who was born on July 1, 2000, won gold in Finland with a record 10.18 seconds.

In the sprint event, victory is not determined by the reaction of a sprinter to his rivals. Victory is determined by the runner’s focus. That’s what Zohri said of his brilliant achievements.

He said he had never targeted a medal or a record. “I just focus on running as well and as relaxed as possible. I always try to be better than before,” he said (Kompas, 4/24/2019).

There is a theory that states reaction time is one of the determinants of a runner’s victory. When in Finland, Zohri’s reaction time was 0.131 seconds. However, when competing in Doha, Zohri’s reaction time was 0.163 seconds, while the championship gold medalist, Kiryu Yoshihide of Japan, had a reaction time of 0.132 seconds.

Despite lagging 0.031 seconds behind from his rival, according to athletic coach Eni Nuraeni, Zohri has advantages that must be possessed by sprinters. Zohri has long footsteps and legs that always go up from start to finish. That means he has advantages in the frequency of footsteps and endurance from the beginning to the end of the race.

Usually, when in competition, runners in the beginning have their legs moving up. However, if they are nearing the finish line, their legs do not go up again. “The legs that move up affect the frequency of footsteps and speed endurance,” said Eni, winner of the 2019 Asia Best Athletics Coach award from the Asian Athletics Association.

This technical aspect is important in determining whether Zohri’s achievements can still be improved or not. In addition to the need for self-discipline, the coach factor will also determine Zohri’s achievements going forward.

At the age of 19 years old, we hope Zohri can still be brilliant, as he wishes to compete at the Olympics. To be able to perform at the Olympics, Zohri must have a record time of 10.05 seconds, which is definitely not easy to achieve.

However, we are optimistic that Zohri can make it given the remarkable development of his achievements. He only needed 17 months since entering the national training center to achieve a record in Doha. It means it is not impossible that Zohri could match the achievements of Purnomo, who competed at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.