goodmorningpapua.com – Yusak Refasi, a athlete who was born on January 1, 1992, was not born from a sports family background. Yusak is just a fisherman’s son from Kwatisore Village, Nabire.
Yusak has absolutely no foundation and understanding of athletics or even graduated from PPLP. Armed with only the natural talent, he learned the tricks of athletics from his seniors in 2010 ago. At that time he was 18 years old and won 1st place in the athletics championship in Jakarta.
“I studied the movements of other athletes and stole knowledge and I finally did it. I participated in the championship in Jakarta and won the first gold medal there. I was 18 years old at that time but competed with senior athletes,” said Yusak to the media crew of goodmorningapua.com, Sunday (11/7/21).
Since then, his career has soared. Yusak joined the Papuan contingent in Pre-PON 2012 Riau and successfully won the second position which brought him to appear in PON XVIII of Riau. In his PON debut, Yusak also took home a silver medal and only lost to senior athlete Zakaria Malik from Lampung.
Yusak also said that while participating in the Pre-PON 2015 in West Java (Jabar), he suffered a hand injury because his pole stick was broken. However, he still insisted on participating and as a result he was able to come out as the first winner and qualify for the West Java PON XIX. At the PON XIX West Java, Yusak was actually able to get gold, but he admitted that he was cheated.
Yusak is the backbone of his family. Moreover, his father had just passed away in August 2020. Yusak always wants to make his beloved mother happy.
Not expecting much, Yusak wants to get a permanent job if he succeeds in presenting a medal for the Land of Papua at the PON XX, next October.
“So far, after defending Papua in PON, I have to return to my hometown because I don’t have a job. I asked KONI so that I could get a job, if allowed, I would like to meet directly with the Governor to get a job,” he said.
Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the All-Indonesian Athletics Association (PASI) Papua, Markus Raubaba, conveyed the message of the Chairperson of PASI Papua, Doren Wakerkwa, that Papuan athletic athletes should be able to provide the best performance at home.
“In the remaining three months, we hope that the athletes can focus on training for the best results. If we can excel outside the region, we must also excel at home. Not just getting a medal, but this achievement will also be a blessing for the Land of Papua, the family and the Papuan government. Thank you also to KONI Papua for monitoring and supporting our athletes during the TC,” he concluded.