Atjong Tio Wins Gold for Indonesia in 3,000-Meter Hurdles at SEA Games
Jakarta. Indonesia's Atjong Tio Purwanto won a gold medal in the men's 3,000-meter hurdles at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday night (26/08).
The win is Indonesia's athletics team fifth gold from the games, but it could not move the country up from the fifth position in the overall medal tally.
Atjong, an Indonesian Military sergeant, finished in nine minutes and 3.94 seconds, followed by Pham Tien San of Vietnam with nine minutes and 6.31 seconds.
"I didn't want to just win, but I wanted to improve my personal best times. I was successful in beating my best time from the recent tryouts," Atjong told state news agency Antara after the win.
Atjong won the bronze at the 2015 SEA Games. "Then it was only the bronze, because I had a hamstring injury, while tonight I really enjoyed the race," he said.
At the Thailand Open in June, he recorded nine minutes and 18 seconds in the 3,000-meter hurdles. In July, at home, his best result was nine minutes and 9.06 seconds.
"Someday I'd like to run a marathon," he said.
Indonesian athletes have so far collected five golden, seven silver and three bronze medals from the 2017 SEA Games. The other golds com from Hendro in the men's 20,000-meter race walking, Triyaningsih in the women's 10,000-meter running, Eki Febri Ekawati in the women's shot put, and Agus Prayogo in the men's 10,000-meter running.
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