Indonesia celebrates the National Sports Day every September 9. This day has been celebrated since the opening ceremony of the first National Sports Week in Solo in 1948. At that time, the Indonesian sports team was rejected in the Olympics because our country hadn’t been recognized yet. Which is why Indonesia created the National Sports Week to give our athletes a chance to compete. Fun fact, this year’s National Sports Day will also be celebrated alongside the opening ceremony of the 21st National Sports Week in Aceh.
Universitas Padjadjaran’s Communication Science Study Programme is no stranger to talented athletes. To celebrate the National Sports Day, we would like to congratulate Communication Science students who recently won awards in martial arts sports competitions. Among them are Syilfa Adistya Zahra, Salsabila Octaviani, and Safi Sahaja.
Syilfa Adistya Zahra is a pencak silat athlete who won 1st Place for Women’s Singles, 1st Place for Women’s Team Combination Technique, and 2nd Place for Women’s Doubles in the 9th Satria Airlangga Cup. She started becoming an athlete in third grade because of her interest towards silat Perisai Diri which is an extracurricular at her school. Regarding the state of sports in Indonesia, she hopes that the government will continue to develop and facilitate sports activities in order to give birth to more great athletes.
There’s also another pencak silat athlete, Salsabila Octaviani, who won 1st Place for Women’s Solospel and 1st Place for Women’s Team Combination Technique in the 9th Satria Airlangga Cup. She started learning silat in elementary school because of her interest towards martial arts. Back then she competed in the fight category, but nowadays she competes in the art category. For the future of sports in Indonesia, she hopes that youths who are interested in sports can fulfill their dreams of becoming an athlete.
Also in the martial arts category is Safi Sahaja, who succeeded in securing 2nd Place for Men’s Kyorugi Senior Over 87 in UGM Taekwondo Championship 2024. Safi was inspired to learn taekwondo because of his father’s stories about martial arts. As an athlete, he has achieved many non-academic achievements that are very valuable to him. He said that for him, sports had become more than just an activity, but also a media to strengthen himself, both physically and mentally.
For National Sports Day, Safi also hopes that the government can focus on developing the potential of sports in Indonesia by increasing the quality and through mass training, considering Indonesia’s achievements in the 2024 Paris Olympics where our country succeeded in competing internationally. We hope that the various achievements that Communication Science students achieved can inspire and help spark a fire in the hearts of readers who are interested in sports.
Congratulations to Communication Science students for their achievements in sports. Happy 2024 National Sports Day! (Ed)