Vietnam Athletics sets target: Win at least 12 gold medals at SEA Games 33

điền kinh - Ảnh 1. — Vietnamese athletics places its greatest hope on Nguyen Thi Oanh (second from right) at the 33rd SEA Games - Photo: NAM TRAN

At the 30th SEA Games in 2019 in the Philippines, Vietnamese athletics dominated the number 1 position in Southeast Asia when they won 16 gold medals, ranking above Thailand (12 gold medals). At the 31st SEA Games in 2022 at home, Vietnamese athletics won 22 gold medals and ranked number 1. That year, Thailand won only 12 gold medals.

But at the 32nd SEA Games in 2023 in Cambodia, Vietnamese athletics won only 12 gold medals out of 47 events and lost the No. 1 position in Southeast Asia to Thailand (16 gold medals). The target of the athletics team at that time was to win 14-16 gold medals.

Affordable target

Therefore, this year the athletics department's goal registered with the Vietnam Sports Administration is to win 12-14 gold medals at the 33rd SEA Games. Speaking with Tuoi Tre, head coach of the Vietnamese athletics team Nguyen Manh Hieu said that athlete Nguyen Thi Oanh is still the team's number 1 hope at the SEA Games.

Oanh is expected to continue winning gold medals in her strong events such as 1,500m, 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m, 10,000m. Although she registered for 4 events, according to Tuoi Tre, Oanh will only compete in 3 events.

Vietnamese athletics still focuses on its strengths in medium and long distance events (400m men's and women's events, 400m men's and women's relay events). In short distance events for men and women (100m, 200m), we have little hope of competing for gold medals with Thailand and Singapore.

It is worth mentioning that Vietnamese athletics at the 33rd SEA Games will not have the presence of athlete Tran Thi Nhi Yen (100m, 200m women), as this athlete left the team to go to university. This is a big loss for Vietnamese athletics, because Nhi Yen was once considered a special young talent of Vietnamese sports.

Thai people's determination

Thailand is the leading country in athletics in Southeast Asia. In the last three SEA Games, Thai athletics has led once with 16 gold medals (SEA Games 32), ranked second twice with 12 gold medals (SEA Games 31) and 12 gold medals (SEA Games 30).

This year, Thai athletics is expected to dominate the medals at the 33rd SEA Games when competing at home with many high-class athletes in strong events such as 100m, 200m, women's javelin, high jump. Accordingly, Puripol Boonson, who is considered the "sprint prodigy" of Thai athletics, has just won the 2025 world championship in the men's 100m event with a time of 10.15 seconds.

In addition to Puripol Boonson, Thailand's men's 100m event also has Soraoat Dabbang, who is also very talented. He is the gold medalist at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia with a time of 10.37 seconds.

In the women's short track event, Thailand has Supanich Poolkerd, who is also an excellent athlete. Or in the 4x100m relay event (mixed and mixed), Thailand also dominated the gold medal at the last two SEA Games. That is Jariya Wichaidit - who is known as the queen of javelin throwing in Thailand (gold medal winner of women's javelin throwing at SEA Games 32), promises to continue to dominate this event at the tournament on home soil.

SEA Games 33 takes place in Thailand, the race between Vietnam and Thailand athletics is even more fierce and this year is predicted to be a fierce competition for Vietnamese athletics and sports.

Split up for training

As the Vietnamese athletics team is in the midst of preparing for the 33rd SEA Games, they have embarked on intensive training at home and abroad. The women’s 400m team recently went to France for training under coach Nguyen Thi Bac in October.

The men's 400m, men's 800m, men's 1,500m, and high jump teams are training in Nanning (China) from mid-October to mid-November. The remaining long-distance and hurdle teams are gathering at the National High-Level Sports Training Center ( Hanoi ) under the guidance of Coach Nguyen Manh Hieu. In the last month before the SEA Games, the athletes' peak performance will be calculated to achieve the best results when entering the Games.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/dien-kinh-viet-nam-dat-chi-tieu-gianh-it-nhat-12-hcv-sea-games-33-20251105100300226.htm