Congratulations to Nandhira Mauriskha from Indonesia, IWGA Athlete of the Month for August 2023. The 24-year-old Wushu fighter won two gold medals at the FISU World University Games in Chengdu, People’s Republic of China.
Her success in the Talou disciplines of Changquan (empty hand) and Jianshu (sword) ended a twelve-year drought for her country: that is how long Indonesia has had to wait for a gold medal at the University Games. The last time Indonesia climbed to the peak of the podium was at the 2011 Games in Shenzhen. The success of Rara, as Nandhira Mauriskha is nicknamed, was worthy of an Instagram post issued by the Indonesian embassy in Beijing.
The Chengdu gold also ended the Wushu fighter's ‘silver period’. In 2022 she first won two silver medals at the SEA Games in Vietnam. Then she secured another silver medal at The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, USA. For Rara, the second places were by no means a disappointment. Rather, they represented her comeback on the big stage of her sport. A year after the SEA Games in Singapore in 2015, Rara, who has been practising Wushu since the sixth year of school, had to undergo knee surgery and take a long break.
She prepared for her success at the FISU Games Chengdu 2023 with a training camp in China, the motherland of the sport. The next competition is also scheduled: she will compete at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, which starts at the end of September. And a further visit to Chengdu is of course also possible: The World Games will be held there in 2025 and Wushu is one of the sports on the programme.
Photo: FISU
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association, organised with the support of the International Olympic Committee. The World Games 2022 was held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from 34 sports and 100 countries took part in the Games. The 12th edition of The World Games will be held in Chengdu, CHN, 7-17 August 2025.
