Polio took away the young athlete’s legs when she was just four years old. Faced with this stroke of fate, and on the suggestion of her brother Gede, also a weightlifter, she began to practice a sport that initially seemed odd to her. As she discovered the magic of weightlifting with her beloved brother, she realized it “changed her life,” the young woman confides to AFP. She started training four or five times a week, her interest growing to the point where she admitted in a recent interview, “If I weren’t doing weightlifting, I have no idea what I would be doing.”

In 2008, she clinched a bronze medal at the ASEAN Paralympic Games in Nakhon Ratchasima, and the following year, she earned a silver medal at the Kuala Lumpur Games. She boasts the best record in Indonesian para-weightlifting, having secured bronze in Rio 2016 and silver in Tokyo 2021. With numerous continental medals to her name, she now aims to finally clinch the gold, the only Olympic medal that has eluded her, in the -41kg category at the Paris Games, arriving with a shoulder injury.

“This is a personal goal. Paris is not easy for me, but I want to give my best for Indonesia and my family,” declared the hopeful young athlete. After finding a space in her trophy-filled vitrine, she only needs to materialize her ascent to Paralympic Olympus at the Paris Sud Arena.

Before the Paris Games, Indonesia has amassed 27 medals, six of them gold. Although men predominantly dominate the medal tally, Ni Nengah Widiasih aims to change that, bearing the weight of both the medals and the hopes of her country, having been the only Indonesian medallist at the Rio 2016 Paralympics. The faith in Indonesia for these Games is intertwined with Widiasih’s name.

Curiously, among the 28 Indonesian athletes qualified for the Paris Paralympics, no men will compete in para-weightlifting. As if it were an all-in bet by the Indonesian committee, the great gamble is on the Balinese athlete. And for her teammates as well, since she trains with two other women, Siti Mahmudah (79 kg), in her second appearance, and Sriyanti (+86 kg), also a polio survivor with a touching story of overcoming adversity. From selling noodles to becoming a Paralympic athlete and winning silver at the 2022 Asian Games, she is an example for girls in the vast Southeast Asian archipelago.

Naturally, due to physiological factors, the achievements of these heroines gain “greater relevance,” Widiasih notes. She highlights how difficult it was during a competition just months ago, coinciding with the start of her menstrual cycle: “Thank God I managed it. It was quite unsettling. Male athletes don’t experience such situations.”

Regardless, the power and effort exhibited by the trio of para-powerlifters is hulking. As is the confidence of their coach, Eko Supriyanto, who, well aware of their talent and strength limits, “demands” they fight for a podium place. Widiasih’s shoulder injury is undoubtedly a hurdle, but nothing will stop this warrior’s obsession in pursuit of gold, like the most ambitious pirate seeking treasure.