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ndonesia has to concede to the fact that its performance levels are lagging behind other traditional powerhouses as it stands at fifth place in the track and field tournament during the ongoing Asian Games Invitational.

The host added just one gold to its medal tally from track and field on Tuesday, after youngster Idan Fauzan Richsan won the men’s pole vault after beating fellow Indonesian athletes Teuku Tegar Abadi, 19, and Dedi Irawan, 19.

Eighteen-year-old Idan racked up a best of 4.90 meters at the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) sport complex’s athletics arena and failed three times at 5.10-m.

“As well as for the Asian games, we have prepared Idhan to compete at international tournaments. It might be too far-fetched to expect gold medals at the upcoming Asian Games, but I hope he can improve his personal best. Hopefully he can jump 5.40-m,” Indonesia’s pole vault coach Sainih said.

Indonesia lagged behind India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and China on the track and field medal tally. The host nation has collected two gold, six silver and three bronze medals in total as of Tuesday.

The other gold medal was won by Maria Natalia Londa, who stunned Asia when she grabbed a gold medal in the long-jump at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

At the men’s 5,000-m final round, runner Putra Wahyudi finished last, succumbing to Lakshmanan Govindan of India, Tanakori Ichikawa of Japan and R. M. S. Pushpalruma of Sri Lanka.

On the overall medal tally for the test event, Indonesia stands at first position after collecting 16 gold, 11 silver and 10 bronze medals, closely followed by India, who collected 12 gold, 6 silver and 9 bronze medals at second place.

“Compared to Asia’s powerhouses, we are not on their level yet,” track and field team manager Mustara said, adding that he hoped the competition could give some experience to 19-year-old Putra, who finished the race at 14:59.24, more than one minute later than the winner.

Mustara said the challenges at the real Asian Games, played from August to September, would be even harder as favorites such as Iran and other Middle Eastern countries did not compete at the test event.

He added that Indonesia could surprise in several disciplines such as the marathon, long jump and race walk.

Indonesia has targeted 20 gold medals from the quadrennial sporting event, bettering its previous record of 11 gold medals in 1962, when the nation became host for the first time.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Athletics Association (PASI) secretary-general Tigor Tanjung said the country was ready to improve the long jump track, following criticism from the Asian Athletics Association, whose representative inspected the location and said it could endanger athletes because it was too close to the edge of the field and thus did not meet international safety standards.

“We have held a meeting with the management of GBK sporting complex and representatives from the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry. We have agreed to overhaul the track,” he said.