Jeany Nuraini

Happy birthday to Indonesia’s sprinter Jeany Nuraini, a national champion who has worn the red and white at the SEA Games, the Asian Games and a World Championships.

Jeany has been on Indonesia’s senior sprint squad since she was a teenager. She ran the 4x100m relay for Indonesia at the SEA Games in the Philippines, where the quartet clocked 45.28, and she was part of the national squad for the Asian Games in Jakarta after winning relay gold at the test event on the same track. Before that she went to the World U18 Championships in Nairobi at seventeen. Her junior record at home is a clean sweep: national U20 titles in both the 100m and the 200m in the same season, gold in the 100m at the ASEAN School Games in Kuala Lumpur, and medals at Popnas. She has a Indonesian national title to her name.

Look at where her competition highlights have taken her and you get the measure of the career: the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore, Japan, Italy. Sprinters at national level in most countries race at home and occasionally abroad. She has spent a decade being the one Indonesia sends. That is what a long international career actually looks like from the inside, and she entered the PASI national programme at fifteen to build it.

The origin story is the best part, and Indonesian sports media have never let it go: she found out she could sprint after being chased by a dog. Every athlete has a moment when someone noticed. Hers involved running for her life down a street in Jakarta, and it turned into a decade in the national vest.

Selamat ulang tahun, Jeany! Panjang umur, sehat selalu, dan semoga tahun ini membawa banyak kemenangan lagi. Semangat terus! 🎂🎁🎉🫶🫶🇮🇩