Indonesian long-distance runner Robi Syianturi describes 2025 as the most historic year of his career, marked by national and international achievements culminating in a marathon gold medal at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand.
Robi Syianturi, a runner from Belitung, summarized his stellar 2025 journey in an Instagram post on Thursday. The year kicked off in February with his selection as a recipient of the Fortune Indonesia Award.
In July, Robi set a national and Southeast Asian record at the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia, clocking 2 hours 15 minutes 4 seconds. This surpassed his own previous national record from the 2024 Valencia Marathon (2 hours 17 minutes 14 seconds) and the Southeast Asian record held by Thai runner Tony Ah-Thit Payne since the 2018 Frankfurt Marathon.
August marked a milestone: Robi joined Indonesia's first long-distance athletics training center in Kenya, an initiative to boost national runners' global competitiveness.
In October, he finished fifth at the Casablanca Half Marathon in Morocco with a time of 1 hour 3 minutes 24 seconds, sharpening his prior national half marathon record (1 hour 4 minutes 48 seconds) from 2024.
The highlight came in December: a gold medal in the marathon at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand, held in Bangkok, where he finished first in 2 hours 27 minutes 33 seconds, ahead of two Filipino runners, Arlan Jr. Arbois and Richard Salano. At the event, Robi also served as Indonesia's flag bearer alongside volleyball player Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi during the opening ceremony.
"Born on Belitung Island full of limitations did not break my dreams for a better life like people out there," Robi stated, reflecting his resilience as an athlete for the Red and White.
