Ni Nengah Widiasih

Started: She took up the sport in 2006 in Bali, Indonesia. (Athlete, 11 Jul 2019) Reason: Her older brother competed in Para powerlifting, so she followed him into the sport. "Living with my brother exposed me to the sport. Initially I was just playing around with the gym's equipment, and they always let me. One day the coach invited me to practise and then enrolled me in a national event. I did not care about the weight categories at the time. Every time I was asked, 'What class are you in?', I always answered 'sixth grade', and everyone laughed. But after winning gold [in the +40kg category at the 2006 National Student Para Games in Indonesia], I realised that powerlifting was 'it'. I did not know what to do with my life before powerlifting." (detik.com, 19 Sep 2018; asumsi.co, 18 Sep 2018; bola.com, 25 Jul 2018; kompas.com, 19 Jun 2016) Milestones: In 2016 she became the first athlete representing Indonesia to win a medal in powerlifting at the Paralympic Games when she claimed bronze in the 41kg category in Rio de Janeiro. (SportsDeskOnline, 08 Sep 2016) Additional Info: SAME NAME She is one of two Para powerlifters from Indonesia named Ni Nengah Widiasih. Both athletes come from Bali and competed at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Indonesia. To separate the pair, she is often referred to as Widi, while the other athlete, who was born in 1980, is known as Nengah. (nusabali.com, 11 May 2019; asiangames.tempo.co, 11 Oct 2018) OCCUPATION She has worked as a civil servant at the Indonesian Ministry of Youth and Sports. (cnnindonesia.com, 10 Aug 2022; barbend.com, 12 Apr 2020; kemenpora.go.id, 08 Jan 2020) EARLY DAYS She took up wheelchair racing at age 12 and competed in national events. "I started wheelchair racing when I was 12 years old and competed in some national competitions. After two years of that, I started powerlifting. Actually, I didn't settle for powerlifting because at that time I didn't understand what powerlifting really was. I just followed my brother to training and then his coach asked me to start training too. And every day, the coach pushed me to keep training in the sport. Sometimes I cried, because at that age, powerlifting was so hard. But luckily, I had a brother and a coach who were very patient, and trained me until my first international competition." (barbend.com, 12 Apr 2020)

Sporting Relatives: Her older brother I Gede Suantaka has competed in Para powerlifting at provincial level in Indonesia. (detik.com, 19 Sep 2018; asumsi.co, 18 Sep 2018)