Vietnam Sports Delegation and the measure of medal quality at SEA Games 33

Although Vietnam won 136 gold medals at the 32nd SEA Games, at the 33rd SEA Games, the Vietnamese sports team only set a target of winning 90 to 110 gold medals. However, the quality of these gold medals is important and will it help Vietnamese sports find hope of winning medals at the ASIAD or the Olympics?

The Vietnamese sports delegation is determined to achieve the best results at the 33rd SEA Games. Photo: Quy Luong

Big win at SEA Games, hard work at ASIAD, Olympics

At the 31st SEA Games, Vietnam led with 205 gold medals, a record in the history of the Games. At the 32nd SEA Games, although not aiming to lead, the Vietnamese Sports Delegation still won the top spot on the medal table with 136 gold medals.

But right after this resounding success of the SEA Games, which was also the first SEA Games to top the entire delegation when competing abroad, Vietnamese sports returned to reality with unstable competition at the ASIAD as well as the Olympics.

At the 19th Asian Games in 2023, the Vietnamese sports delegation won only 3 gold medals - lower than the 18th Asian Games (4 gold medals). At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Vietnamese sports did not win any medals. This is also the second consecutive time that Vietnamese sports did not win any medals at the Olympics after achieving historic success at the 2016 Olympics with 1 gold medal and 1 silver medal.

This shows a reality of Vietnamese sports that has been pointed out for many years that the SEA Games achievements do not reflect the true strength in the continental or Olympic arena. Many experts and managers have also commented that the SEA Games cannot be used to evaluate the level of Vietnamese sports in larger arenas such as the ASIAD and the Olympics.

As in athletics, where Vietnamese athletes have continuously made their mark at the SEA Games, even surpassing Thailand in recent editions. However, the parameters of Vietnamese athletes who won SEA Games gold medals are not enough to qualify for the Olympics.

If we look at the countries in the Southeast Asian region, just at the ASIAD, we can see the problem of Vietnamese sports. In the last 5 ASIAD, Vietnamese sports only won 12 gold medals. Meanwhile, in the most recent ASIAD 19 alone, Thailand also won 12 gold medals.

Vietnam's achievements are still inferior to Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines if we count the total gold medals in the last 5 ASIAD. The total number of gold medals won by Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines in the last 5 ASIAD is 48, 35, 24 and 16 respectively. These numbers were shown right after the 19th ASIAD in 2023, to see that the problem of Vietnamese sports is still the lack of sustainability in the Olympic and ASIAD groups.

* Finding the value of the SEA Games medal

SEA Games 33 is considered the right time to orient towards further goals of Vietnamese sports such as ASIAD and Olympics.

Setting a lower target for gold medals than the previous SEA Games is also considered a way to clarify this orientation. Of course, there are eternal objective factors that make Vietnamese sports managers have to carefully calculate the target of 90-110 gold medals. Notably, some strong sports of Vietnamese sports were eliminated compared to the previous SEA Games such as Vovinam. Or some other strong sports had their competition contents reduced. Typically, wrestling has 12 competition contents compared to 30 competition contents at the 32nd SEA Games.

Meanwhile, modern sports recently developed in Southeast Asia included in the competition program of SEA Games 33 are the strengths of Thailand and Indonesia.

However, it is worth noting that Vietnamese sports no longer prioritize sending the strongest force to "collect" gold at the 33rd SEA Games, but instead use more young forces to aim for the 2026 ASIAD as well as the 2028 Olympic qualifiers.

Therefore, at the 33rd SEA Games, if the gold medal winning rate of the Vietnamese Sports Delegation in the Olympic and ASIAD events increases compared to the previous SEA Games, it is also worth noting. In addition, it is still necessary to properly evaluate the quality of the gold medals at the 33rd SEA Games to see how likely they are to win the 2028 Olympic medal or the 2026 ASIAD gold medal.

The most important thing is not whether the target of 90-110 gold medals at the 33rd SEA Games is achieved or not. The most important thing is the quality of the medals to aim for further goals such as the Olympics and ASIAD. As many experts have emphasized, the value of a SEA Games gold medal needs to be measured by the ability to upgrade to a bronze, silver, or gold medal at the ASIAD or the Olympics to what extent... Being first or being in the top 3 SEA Games teams is not considered strong. Strong is when Vietnam can win more gold medals at the ASIAD, can win more medals at the Olympics than before.

Expectations of Hanoi sports

Hanoi has 205 gold medals, athletes participating in the Vietnamese Sports Delegation participating in the 33rd SEA Games, accounting for 17.6%, expected to contribute 22 gold medals. Hanoi Sports also expects the quality of the medals that Hanoi athletes contribute to the Vietnamese Sports Delegation, especially in the sports in the Olympic and ASIAD competition programs.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/doan-the-thao-viet-nam-va-thuoc-do-chat-luong-huy-chuong-sea-games-33-726165.html