Indonesian soldier eyes SEA Games golds

Indonesian soldier-cum-long distance runner Agus Prayogo received a boost to become the fastest at the 26th SEA Games battlefield after breaking his own record at last month’s fifth Military World Games in Brazil.

The soldier assigned at the Army Officer Training Corps in Bandung, West Java, who focuses on 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter races, recorded 14:02.12 minutes in the recent finals of the 5,000-meter Rio de Janeiro race.

Agus finished 12th in the event where Kenya’s Kipto Mark won the gold in 13:06.17 minutes, another Kenyan, Krop Vincent, won the silver in 13:03.31 minutes, and Bahrain’s Galesa snatched the bronze in 13:06.73 minutes.

Indonesia deployed its soldiers among the 4,900 athlete-soldiers from 108 countries participating in the quadrennial games organized by the International Military Sports Council.

Not only breaking his own national record of 14.04 minutes, Agus also surpassed the 1997 SEA Games record of 14.08 minutes belonging to Rahmad Chandra of Malaysia.

In the latest SEA Games in Laos, two years ago, the 5,000-meter gold went to Aung Khaing of Myanmar, who won in 14:43.12 minutes. Boonthung Srisung of Thailand won the silver and Julius Sermona of the Philippines won the bronze.

Not competing in the 5,000-meter race, at that time, Agus could only bring home a gold from the 10,000-meter race. He clocked 29:51.40 in the 10,000-meter finals, followed by country-fellow Jauhary Johan in 30:10.52 minutes and Boonthung Srisung of Thailand in 30:25.75 minutes.

This year, for the upcoming Nov. 11-22 SEA Games in Jakarta and Palembang, he said he hoped to win both events.

“Most important for me is to secure two golds at those events. Hopefully, I can do that while breaking the 1997 SEA Games record,” said Agus as quoted by Antara on Tuesday.

To gear up for the SEA Games, the 25-year-old runner will race in the 21-kilometer Army Half Marathon on Sept. 4 in Singapore. For his fourth apperance at the annual Army Half Marathon, Agus hoped to be able to rise on to the podium again.

Last year, Agus finished runner-up, while in 2009 he came home champion. In the 2008 event, Agus finished third.

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