Important decision
With the addition of these four events, the 33rd SEA Games athletics has a total of 47 officially organized events.
Vietnam Athletics won 12 Gold Medals at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia. According to the forecast of the coaching staff of the Vietnam Athletics Team, we must achieve at least this result at the 33rd SEA Games. Based on the people and the ability to compete in reality, Vietnam Athletics is capable of achieving this result.
“Currently, the teams of Thailand (host), Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines... are all preparing important forces for the 33rd SEA Games. Therefore, Vietnamese athletics must still be cautious. Based on the ability to compete, each specialized content group will have a competition strategy to aim for results,” said Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, head of the athletics department (Department of Sports and Physical Training).
After the 4 events were added back, the Vietnamese Athletics Team has the potential to win Gold Medals in each competition in this group. At the 32nd SEA Games, we had Nguyen Thi Oanh win the women's 3,000m hurdles, Nguyen Trung Cuong win the men's 3,000m hurdles. Veteran athlete Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc won the Gold Medal in the women's 20km walk. In the men's 20km walk, we have athletes Nguyen Thanh Ngung and Vo Xuan Vinh who have enough chances to compete in the competition in Thailand.
Goal to conquer the women's 400m group
The 400m distance group is the mainstay of Vietnamese athletics. We won the 2023 Asian Championship in the women's 4x400m relay. At the 2024 Asian Championship for relay events, Vietnamese athletics continued to win the Gold Medal in the women's 4x400m relay.
“The coaching staff for the women’s 400m, 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay are developing a professional plan. Female athletes in these events will receive international training to prepare for specific tournament goals,” Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung added.
The only absentee at the 33rd SEA Games next year is Nguyen Thi Huyen. The runner from Nam Dinh has retired. However, the Vietnam Athletics Team has added athlete Quach Thi Lan to replace her. In addition to Quach Thi Lan, the female athletes of the women's 400m team including Nguyen Thi Hang, Hoang Thi Minh Hanh, and Nguyen Thi Ngoc are in good form.
They are expected to be strong enough to win at least two gold medals in the 400m event group. In 2024, Vietnamese athletics will look closely at the faces that have competed in this event at the national championship. We have not had any new faces to make a professional breakthrough in this event group, but the people are strong enough to compete for medals at the SEA Games.
According to forecasts, the host Thai athletics team is determined to win the number one position in this sport at the 33rd SEA Games on home soil. The Department of Sports and Physical Training and the Vietnam Athletics Federation are building a list of athletes for each group to gather for training in January 2025. The list has not been confirmed because the official announcement will be made on the first day of the new year (January 1, 2025).
“Basically, athletes who maintain their achievements in the women's 400m, 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay are calculated to be in the Vietnam athletics team in 2025. These are the core players, we are also aiming for the long-term goal of ASIAD 20, not just SEA Games 33,” said a representative of the women's 400m event team of the Vietnam Athletics Team.
