Indonesian gymnast Alarice Mallica Vilobianne said that she can’t wait to take part in the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, set to take place from October 19-25 in Indonesia Arena, Jakarta.

The upcoming championship will mark Alarice’s debut at the world stage, but the 17-year-old said she is ready to give her best performance for Indonesia.

“I’ve been preparing for this for a long time, so I’m mentally and physically ready for the world championships,” Alarice.

Under coach Eva Butarbutar guidance, Alarice has spent the past few months training intensively for the world championships.

The gymnast who won gold for team and silver for the floor exercise at the 21st National Sports Week (PON) in Aceh–North Sumatra last year, had competed at the Pharaoh’s Cup in Cairo, Egypt, last month, where she brought another gold medal in floor exercise for the Merah-Putih.

Here is a brief interview with Alarice conducted by the LOC team:

Can you tell us about your preparation for the upcoming world championships?

I’ve been preparing for this for a long period of time so I am mentally and physically ready for this competition, because we've been preparing this for ahead of time and we've been practicing like we've always been.

The focus is, I am just going to be doing the best I can, as usual. Because my routine is not a new one and I’ve been practicing for quite a long time so I wish, I'm just gonna do my best.

Do you have any specific training for the upcoming world championships?

For the specific [training], maybe on floor [exercise] because that is, I could say, that’s one of my best events and what I am most confident at.

This is your first-ever world championships? Do you have any target for the upcoming world championships?

Since this is my first-ever world championships of course it will be quite nerve-wracking and it's everything, it’s very new to me. So, my one and only target is that I'm just going to perform my best out there. Show everyone what I am capable of, what I am best at, what I am good at, and I just wish that I could perform what I can with my best ability.

Many olympians will also take part at the world championships. How excited are you about the upcoming championships?

I definitely would be so excited to see all the professional, international, gymnasts [that] I adore and respect. I hope that I can learn a lot from them.

I hope that i can, you know, maybe talk some conversations with them. I hope that I can learn [about] how they manage and control their nerves when facing, the competition.

I wanna see how they train. I want to see how they work, how fast they work, how focused they are. I want to learn everything. Everything is just new [for me], so I hope Ican learn a lot from them.

How do you think about the progress of Indonesian gymnastics so far?

In general for the progress, it's definitely, I can see that gymnastics Indonesia has been more recognized by the country since Rifda [Irfanaluthfi] has gone to Olympic.

For the progress, I can definitely see it’s way better. everyone is now recognizes gymnastics Indonesia. we can say, maybe, last year or two years ago, gymnastics in Indonesia is not really that well known to the publicin our country.

And since Paris 2024, [gymnast] was able to go to the Olympics, everyone started to see the sport and recognize. Now, we have more support from the government and everyone in the country.

What has been your biggest achievement and most memorable moment as a gymnast?

Last time, I just competed in Egypt at the Pharaoh's cup and I was able to perform it and nailed it. I got a gold medal and i was so relieved. I was so happy, I was satisfied and thankful for myself for that [gold medal].

Your parents have always been there throughout your training for the upcoming World Championships. How important is their role in your career?

They've been supporting me since day one, since i was a little child. A child like me was saying nonsense, like i wanna be an olympian but they they didn't underestimate any of my words, any of my dreams.

They fully support me. They've comforted me, they've been on my back and they are definitely my number one supporters. So, I'm very very thankful for them. I couldn't have been here without them.

One of your colleagues, Naufal Takdir Al Bari, passed away last month. How do you see Naufal as a person and also as an athlete?

He was a very very kind and very bright person. Since we had a training camp last year in Japan, I spent quite a lot of time with him. I talked a lot with him. He told me stories, I told him stories. We shared a lot.

He was very helpful with everyone. He was always there to make us smile and laugh. he was a very lovely person. So, i was very… very sad to hear the news about him.

Will the upcoming world championship be a kind of tribute and dedication to Naufal?

Definitely! He’s a colleague of ours, a friend of ours. We definitely hope that we can perform our utmost [performance] for him. So, we can put a smile on his face in the afterlife.