Indonesia’s Agus bent on making KL his best Games

INDONESIA’S long distance runner Agus Prayogo will turn 32 on Wednesday and he wants to leave a lasting impression at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.

Agus, who is from Bandung, was delighted when he handed himself an early birthday present by winning the silver in the men’s marathon at Putrajaya on Saturday.

He marked his Games marathon debut with a determined run. Agus was neck and neck with defending champion Guillaume Soh Rui Yong of Singapore before fading away in the last 4km.

Guillaume retained the gold in 2’29:27 while Agus clocked 2’31:20 to finish second in the 42km race.

With the marathon done and dusted, Agus has now turned his attention to the 5,000m and 10,000m.

Not only is he looking to defend the 10,000m gold he won in 29:41.56 at Singapore 2015, he also wants to go one better in the 5,000m.

Agus won silver in the shorter distance in Singapore clocking 14:15.14.

He holds the Indonesian national records in 5,000m (14:02.12) and 10,000m (29:25.77).

The men’s 10,000m final will be held on Friday and the 5,000m final on Saturday at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

Agus, who is featuring in his third Games, is hoping to repeat the double he did when he won the 5,000m and 10,000m golds at the Jakarta Games in 2011.

“I believe I can do it again after failing to do so in Singapore,” said Agus, who skipped Myanmar 2013 due to a knee injury.

“I’m motivated to win the 5,000m and 10,000m after bagging a silver in my first marathon race in the Games.

“I want the KL Games to be my best-ever outing,” added Agus, who can expect a stiff challenge in the 5,000m from Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Cai, who broke the Games record in Singapore by clocking 14:04.82.