Setiyo wants to give back to the sport as he tunes up for swan song
INDONESIA’S Setiyo Budi Hartanto is aware of the importance of giving back to the sport.
The 31-year-old, from Solo in Central Jawa, is basically a sprinter. He is also adept at long jump and triple jump.
But what makes him stand out is his commitment to coaching junior disabled athletes.
Setiyo, who has a degree in sports science, has been the national coach for junior para athletes since 2008.
The ever-cheerful Setiyo admit- ted that it can be hectic combining his own training and coaching the junior para athletes.
“But I am not complaining. I have been doing it for the last nine years,” said Setiyo, as he prepares to make his Asean Para Games swan song in Kuala Lumpur.
This will be his seventh straight Asean Para Games outing since making his debut in Manila in 2005.
For the KL Games, he will com- pete in the men’s 100m, 4x100m, long jump and triple jump.
Setiyo, who has a five- year- old son, has won 12 golds and four silvers in the last six Asean Para Games.
Four of those golds came in Singapore two years ago, when he won the men’s T47 category of the 100m and 4x100m and F47 class of long jump and triple jump. (T47 and F47: Amputation and others ( including athletes with dwarfism).
He also broke the 100m Asean Para Games record by clocking 11.32 in Singapore.
“This will be my last Asean Para Games and I want to end it with a bang by again winning four gold medals,” said Setiyo, who also won bronze in long jump in the 2014 Incheon Asian Para Games.
Setiyo said he would retire after the Asian Para Games in Jakarta in October next year to fully concentrate on his coaching career.