Students from Universitas Indonesia (UI) have once again made achievements at the 21st National Sports Week (PON) 2024 held in Aceh and North Sumatra, on September 8–20, 2024. They are Naura Rahmadija and Keisha Hasna Purnama from the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Blasius Bayu from the Faculty of Public Health (FKM), and Owen Raharjo Davys from the Faculty of Engineering (FT). The four of them are representatives of DKI Jakarta for different sports.
At the event, Naura won four Gold Medals and one Bronze Medal for the Roller Skate sport. Meanwhile, Keisha won a Gold Medal for the Women’s Basketball sport, Blasius won a Bronze Medal in the Rugby sport, and Owen won a Silver Medal for the Softball sport. On one occasion, Naura said that this championship was her second experience after previously competing in the 2021 PON. The intensive preparations carried out since 2022 have now produced marvelous results. Even so, she admitted that her achievements were inseparable from the support of those closest to her who continued to motivate her.
According to Naura, her career in the world of roller skating began at the age of 6 with strong training and dedication. She joined the DKI Jakarta Regional Training Center (Pelatda) team at the age of 13. This year was a special moment for her because after becoming a student, she was still able to compete in PON. “I am very grateful because FEB UI is very supportive and understands my condition as an athlete. The faculty provided support and academic flexibility while I underwent intensive training ahead of PON. This helped me to stay focused and achieve both in academics and sports,” she said.
Meanwhile, Keisha—with the DKI Jakarta Basketball Team—won the championship after preparing intensively for two years. This success began when she qualified for PON which was held in Bali in 2023. According to her, diligent training, prayer, teamwork, and support from parents and various parties were the main keys to her success. In this case, she received academic flexibility during PON preparation as well as moral support from lecturers.
“Before participating in PON, I was already active in various national-level basketball championships. Of course, this is one of the things that helped me get selected for the 2023 PON qualification, and was again trusted to strengthen the DKI Jakarta PON team this year. This achievement is proof that UI students have the opportunity to excel not only in academics, but also in national sports,” said Keisha.
Before the four students, two UI students had won 5 medals for two sports. Nadia Indah Amalia from the Faculty of Law won 4 medals in the Artistic Gymnastics sport, namely 2 Gold Medals for the Women’s Team and Women’s Individual All-Around Events, 1 Silver Medal for the Women’s Vault, and 1 Bronze Medal for the Women’s Bars. Meanwhile, Jeremy Dillon Latuheru from the Faculty of Humanities won a Gold Medal in the Water Polo sport.
The brilliant achievements achieved by these UI students not only bring pride to them personally, but also to the UI alma mater and the entire DKI Jakarta community. Their proud success is expected to be an inspiration for other students to continue to excel in various fields, both academic and non-academic.
