Singaraja– Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi, who has become one of Indonesia’s mainstay long-distance athletes, show her work at the international level again. She won a silver medal in the Speed Woman category at the IFSC Climbing World Cup Salt Lake City, USA, which took place from 19 to 21 May 2023.
Desak Rita, her nickname is one of the students of the Ganesha University of Education (Undiksha) in Physical Education, Health and Recreation Study Program, Faculty of Sports and Health (FOK). Her success in achieving achievements in this prestigious event is of course also a matter of pride for Undiksha, especially the FOK academic community.
This student who was born in 2001 had to compete with participants who were no less great from various countries around the world. Before showing off her abilities, as an athlete representing Indonesia, she has also participated in the National Training (Pelatnas) in Bekasi since 2020 to prepare himself for this international event.
Participating in the competition, the challenge she faced was the large time difference between the United States and Indonesia, so she needed high concentration to perform optimally. “The challenge is jet lag because the time difference with Indonesia is very far and you have to perform optimally,” she said.
Her success in achieving glorious achievements does not necessarily make her complacent. This student from Sambangan Village, Buleleng has a target of qualifying for the Olympics and becoming a champion at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Currently, she still has to take part in Pelatnas in Bekasi to prepare for 3 World Cup series and the closest is the Swiss World Cup which will take place in 2023.
On one occasion, Desak Rita told about her journey to falling in love with rock climbing, a very challenging sport. She was introduced by her aunt when she was still in grade II of elementary school. In her work, she has always won medals at the Student Sports and Arts Week (Porsenijar) which she has tested from 2011 to 2019. At the Porprov Bali event which was held in Tabanan Regency, she won 1st place, the National Championship for the age group won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, the general national championship won third place and the 2018 Asian Youth ranked fourth. (hms)
