Is it necessary or not to set the SEA Games target?
From the recent Workshop on giving comments on the development of key sports to prepare for the 2026-2046 Olympics and ASIADs organized by the Vietnam Department of Physical Education and Sports, many opinions emphasized how the country's sports should choose the target.
Looking back at the reality of the last 5 SEA Games (in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023), Vietnamese sports are in the top 3 positions in the total medal standings. In which, we have continuously led at the 31st SEA Games (May 2022) and the 32nd SEA Games (May 2023).
Also from the experience of the above SEA Games, many Olympic faces of Vietnamese sports such as Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, Hoang Xuan Vinh, Tran Le Quoc Toan, Thach Kim Tuan, Nguyen Tien Minh, Phan Thi Ha Thanh, Nguyen Thi Tam... all took on the responsibility of competing for medals in regional sports arenas and then continued to work at the ASIAD, Olympics.
For professionals, key faces need to be invested appropriately, focusing on the ASIAD and Olympics.
Sports expert Nguyen Hong Minh (former Director of the Department of High Performance Sports 1, General Department of Physical Education and Sports) said that in the targets and goals set by the Vietnamese sports industry to focus on finding resources for human training, there is also a task for the SEA Games arena.Managers need to change their thinking about key investments.
In fact, Vietnamese sports have competed and achieved many results at the SEA Games. Now, we must focus on the contents of sports in the Olympic and ASIAD programs so that athletes can compete for medals. If there are still additional investment and competition targets for the SEA Games combined with professional preparation, it will be inevitable that we will have to dispers resources" - expert Nguyen Hong Minh expressed his opinion.
The mission of attending the SEA Games is important for Vietnam because we are an indispensable part of Southeast Asian sports. However, determining which athletes will participate in this arena will determine the investment of the sports industry in other key decisions towards attending the ASIAD and Olympics.
Determine key points to focus on the spearhead
Previously, Vietnamese sports focused on investing in spearhead groups in 5 sports including swimming, athletics, weightlifting, gymnastics, and shooting. In the Program to develop key sports to prepare for the Olympics, the ASIAD for the 2026-2046 period, managers will focus on investing in 17 sports with group 1 focusing on Olympic medals such as shooting, archery, weightlifting, badminton, taekwondo, boxing, boxing, and boat racing. Group 2 is the sport aiming for the ASIAD medal achievement, including athletics, judo, karate, wushu, gymnastics, weightlifting, swimming, cloud bridge, cycling.
Investing in key sports is a way for Vietnamese sports to win Gold Medals at the ASIAD and the Olympics. Preparing for the most recent arena, Vietnamese sports have set a target of achieving 5 Gold Medals at the 20th ASIAD in 2026. By the 21st ASIAD in 2030, the target is 6 Gold Medals. For the 2028 Olympics, Vietnamese sports aim to win 2 Bronze Medals.
The focus on investing in 17 sports in the Program for developing key sports participating in the Olympics and ASIAD for the 2026-2046 period is still receiving many comments, revolving around the question of whether this number is too much and spreading out.
In analyzing the current situation of high-performance sports, a representative of the High Performance Sports Department (Vietnam Department of Physical Education and Sports) said that we must clearly see the unstable competition results of Vietnamese athletes in the Olympic and ASIAD arenas.
Along with that, the number of athletes, coaches and professional staff is still limited. We have won Gold Medals at the Olympics, at the ASIAD, but the decisive point is to improve stability in the international arena.
