Agus Prayogo's Great Mission At The 2023 Asian Games, Not Just A Medal

Long-distance running athlete, Agus Prayogo. (Photo via Antara/Muhammad Ramdan)

JAKARTA - Long-distance running athlete, Agus Prayogo, has a big mission at the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games, China. He is not only aiming for medals in the event which will be held starting September 23.

Agus Prayogo has the determination to break the national record (rekornas) for the men's marathon number. The men's marathon national record is still held by the late Eduardus Nabunome when competing in the 1993 National Sports Week (PON) with 2 hours 19.18 minutes.

Meanwhile, Agus' best time was 2 hours 21.09 minutes when he took off on the Gold Coast in Australia in 2016.

"Personally, I have broken several running records such as 5,000m, 10,000m, and half marathon. Well, my goal as an athlete is still one dream to break the marathon record held by the late Eduardus Nabunome," Agus said, quoted by Antara.

The athlete who was born in Bogor, August 23, 1985, was not grandiose about the target at the 2022 Asian Games. This is because the competition at the biggest sporting event in the Yellow Continent is indeed tight.

Moreover, not a few participating countries use the services of naturalized athletes to win medals.

"I have experience performing at the Asian Games twice. From this experience, the countries are 'oil/no athletes, but they have money. As a result, they use African athletes to carry the names Bahrain, Qatar, and others," said Agus.

Competing with naturalized athletes from Africa, continued Agus, is difficult, considering that the anatomy and genetics of Asian athletes are no better than athletes from Africa.

However, Agus will continue to strive to provide the best for Indonesia at the four-year event. After presenting gold at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia, Agus immediately stepped on the gas to prepare himself.

The plan is that he will also undergo a training camp (TC) in China before competing in the 2022 Asian Games. He hopes that with all efforts he can improve his achievements in previous similar events.

His debut at the Asian Games took place in 2010 in Guangzhou, China. At that time he fell at 10,000 meters and took ninth place with a time of 29 minutes 25.77 seconds.

Then at the 2018 Asian Games Jakarta-Palembang, Agus took part in the marathon number. Unfortunately, he failed to finish after suffering the first 30km injury from the race.

"Currently the conditions are normal, it is proven that when the 2023 SEA Games I managed to donate gold. I hope to be consistent in preparation and there will be no obstacles during the Hangzhou Asian Games," concluded Agus.