Marrying Gold Is Not Difficult for the "Lead" Rock Climbing Team

BANGKOK, KOMPAS — Like dancing gracefully on a climbing wall, Indonesia's lead athletes debuted at the SEA Games without any significant difficulty. The lead team enjoyed the competition and ultimately won gold in both the men's and women's categories. This was the starting point for the young climbers towards their ultimate goal: the Olympics.

Although not everyone supported Indonesia, the audience at the Bangkok Sport Climbing Center Stadium SAT, Bangkok, Thailand, cheered as Alma Ariella Tsany's "dance" took her to the top of the climbing wall on Friday night (12/12/2025). Alma became the only female climber among the eight finalists who could reach the summit.

With this success, Alma secured the first gold medal in rock climbing from the lead discipline at the 2025 SEA Games Thailand. Alma's achievement was perfected by the male climber, Ardana Cikal Damarwulan, who brought the lead climbing team to win a gold medal.

The Indonesian climbing team has won a total of four medals. In addition to two gold medals, they secured a silver medal through female climber Sukma Lintang Cahyani and a bronze medal from male climber Mahesa Caesar.

"I am very happy. I indeed targeted gold because this is the SEA Games first and it will certainly be the last since after this the focus must be on Asia and the world," said Alma.

Before departing for the SEA Games, the coach of the Indonesian climbing team, Hendra Basir, had instilled the mindset that this event is a stepping stone towards higher competitions in Asia and the world. In a multi-sport event, athletes are required to have the primary goal of reaching the Olympics. The journey towards that begins at the Southeast Asian level, with the SEA Games and Asia, followed by the Asian Games.

Alma internalized that mindset, so when she ensured that the gold was successfully grasped, there was no excessive euphoria. There were no celebrations or anything that expressed her happiness upon reaching the pinnacle.

Alma immediately headed to the audience area, joining her teammates and coach. Then, as part of her routine during practice, the 16-year-old climber performed a cool-down session with Lintang.

The medal chances for the "Merah Putih" team were actually evident since the morning qualification round. All Indonesian climbers, a total of six athletes, made it to the top eight.

In the men's category, Cikal ranks first, followed by Caesar (2) and Muhammad Ramzi Firmansyah (4). Meanwhile, in the women's category, Lintang and Alma both hold the first position. Nur Diatul Jannah is in fourth place.

"To be honest, I did not expect to win gold and was not aware of it either. Because while climbing, I had no thoughts about the medal. I focused on climbing as high as possible, and I am grateful that the result was gold," said Cikal, the 15-year-old climber.

However, although all Indonesian climbers made it to the top eight in the qualification round as a threshold to advance to the finals, only a maximum of two athletes per country are allowed to proceed to that stage. As a result, Cikal and Caesar, as well as Lintang and Alma, represented Indonesia in the finals.

Coach Hendra Basir stated that the two gold medals were unexpected. In fact, it can be said that Indonesia actually snatched the gold from the host Thailand, especially in the men's category. On paper, the host Thailand was superior as they fielded their main squad.

One of its athletes, Auswin Aueareechit, who won silver, is at the level of Indonesia's top-tier athletes. Meanwhile, Cikal and Caesar are actually part of the second tier of the national team. Therefore, Hendra was very expressive when Cikal was able to climb higher than Auswin and ultimately secured gold.

"This is not about victory and gold medals; it is about how they can complete the path according to their level that corresponds with their performance level," said Hendra.

"This is also their moment to expand their repertoire of routes; they are recording the routes and discussing them. However, most importantly, this is the starting point of the journey they will undertake leading up to the Olympics," he added.

In lead, climbers are challenged to reach the highest point in the fastest time. They have six minutes for each climb.

Cikal reached the 39th grip and fell when reaching the 40th grip. Meanwhile, Auswin fell after reaching the 38th grip, and Caesar reached the 37th grip.

In the women's lead category, Lintang's time expired just as she was about to reach hold number 43. Nevertheless, Lintang remains grateful for her achievements and is also pleased with her junior gold medalist, Alma.

Alma herself displayed an outstanding performance. The climber, who made her international debut last year, seemed to enjoy the competition as if it were not her first SEA Games.

According to Alma, there is indeed a belief that they can reach the peak after conducting a collective observation before the final race. They were not allowed to attempt the route. After the observation, the athletes were placed in isolation.

Despite having difficulty reaching the 43rd point, the hold that Lintang aimed for when she fell, Alma relied on fluid movements as if she were dancing on the climbing wall.

Lead climbing is a discipline in rock climbing that requires flexibility to reach holds on the wall. It also requires endurance, agility, and speed.

The climbing route always changes depending on the level of difficulty. If no climber reaches the summit, the winner is determined by which climber can reach the highest point between one and fifty.

Dear readers, the Kompas daily has opened a column titled Letters for Athletes, which contains opinions, encouragement, or comments regarding the performance of Indonesian athletes at the SEA Games in Thailand 2025. Please send your brief comments, consisting of a minimum of two sentences and a maximum of six sentences, by filling out the form below. Selected comments will be published in the Kompas daily during the SEA Games 2025.