KUALA LUMPUR: Hakimi Ismail appears to have reserved his best for the Sea Games after the triple jumper retained his gold medal with another record-breaking performance at the National Stadium on Wednesday.
Just as he did in Singapore two years ago, Hakimi won with a record leap of 16.77 metres for Malaysia's fifth gold medal in athletics.
After struggling with injuries since his win in Singapore, Hakimi took a while to rediscover his form which peaked just at the right moment.
"Actually, my target is higher than the Sea Games and I had wanted to do much better at the Asian Championships (in July)," said Hakimi, 26, who bettered his old Sea Games and national records by one centimetre.
"But the weather was bad there (in India) and I couldn't jump to my best. I hope I get another chance soon, maybe at the Commonwealth Games next year."
Hakimi saved his best jump for last after second-placed Mark Harry Diones could do no better than 16.63m while Thailad's Pratchaya Tepparak took bronze with 16.37m.
Prior to his record-breaking jump, Hakimi leapt 16.67m and 16.74m to provide an indication of what was to come.
"I achieved my target for this year by winning gold and breaking the record," said Hakimi. "I was only focused on myself rather than my rivals.
"My performance this year has been very consistent. Here everything went perfect and the last jump was maybe my lucky day with the pressure off."