At the end of the 33rd SEA Games, the Vietnamese sports delegation ranked 3rd on the total list with 87 gold medals, 81 silver medals and 110 bronze medals. If we include performance events such as tug of war or MMA, we can see that the goals set for the regional Games have been basically completed.
However, when placing those numbers in a context further towards the ASIAD or Olympics, the true value of achievements needs to be viewed more carefully.
From the detailed statistics table, Vietnamese sports won 59 gold medals in events included in the Olympic program. In addition, 2 events in the ASIAD system, karate and cloud badminton, contributed 7 more gold medals.
In total, Vietnamese sports won 66 gold medals from the Olympics and ASIAD, accounting for nearly 76% of the total number of gold medals. Although this rate is relatively positive, it is still not enough to reflect the competitiveness in larger arenas.
In fact, not all SEA Games achievements are capable of reaching the milestone of winning continental medals. For example, in athletics, Vietnam won 12 gold medals, only 1 less than Thailand. However, the number of events with successes approaching or exceeding the ASIAD medal standard is not much.
Among them, the most prominent are the women's 4x400m relay team and individuals such as Bui Thi Kim Anh (long jump) or Tran Thi Loan (high jump) who are close to Asian records. In the remaining events, although dominating Southeast Asia, most of them are still not competitive in the continental playground.
With swimming Nguyen Huy Hoang having won the ASIAD bronze medal in the medium and long distances, at the 33rd SEA Games, his 400m freestyle achievement was slower than 3 years ago. In the 1,500m distance, Huy Hoang also won the gold medal but he still needs to improve significantly to get closer to the achievement milestone of competing for an ASIAD medal.
In addition, Pham Thanh Bao and Tran Hung Nguyen also missed a few seconds to step up to the Asian medal table.
In shooting, only the achievement of shooter Trinh Thu Vinh in the women's 10m air pistol event is to meet the index of being able to win medals at the ASIAD, even approaching the Olympics. However, if she wants to conquer the two continental and world arenas, Thu Vinh needs to maintain this stability.
