SEA Games 33: Nguyen Thi Oanh and the new 'weapons' of Vietnamese athletics

Khanh Linh is full of energy, promising to be a prominent face of Vietnamese athletics.

The beauty left the game

Nguyen Thi Huyen’s departure from the competition is perhaps one of the biggest losses for Vietnamese athletics. The girl from Nam Dinh (formerly) is a truly special case, possessing unique qualities that no other athlete has. Closing the race in the regional playground, Nguyen Thi Huyen holds a record that few athletes can match with 13 gold medals, in both individual and team events.

At the 2015 SEA Games, Nguyen Thi Huyen won a hat-trick of gold medals in the 400m, 400m hurdles and 4x400m. Since then, no Games has been without Nguyen Thi Huyen on the medal podium. At the 2017 SEA Games, she successfully defended her 3 gold medals and went on to win a total of 7 gold medals in the following 3 consecutive Games.

Nguyen Thi Huyen is the "record holder" of Vietnamese athletics at the SEA Games.

SEA Games 32 (Cambodia) marked the brilliant brilliance of Nguyen Thi Huyen with 3 gold medals and by the end of 2023, she will leave the track to switch to a coaching career.

At the 33rd SEA Games (Thailand), Vietnam's athletics team, in addition to Nguyen Thi Huyen, will be missing another face, Nguyen Thi Nhi Yen, due to personal reasons. She won 1 bronze medal and 1 silver medal at the 32nd SEA Games and is considered to have great potential to compete for medals at the upcoming regional competition.

According to experts, the absence of faces like Nguyen Thi Huyen and Nhi Yen is a loss for Vietnamese athletics at the 33rd SEA Games. The competition with host Thailand for the No. 1 position has become challenging for Vietnamese athletics. At the 32nd SEA Games, for the first time after 2 consecutive periods leading the region, Vietnam lost the No. 1 position to Thailand. This is a strong warning signal because Thailand will be the host.

Nguyen Thi Oanh and new "weapons"

Speaking with Tien Phong, Vice President of the Southeast Asian Athletics Federation, General Secretary of the Vietnam Athletics Federation Nguyen Manh Hung said that towards the 33rd SEA Games, the goal of Vietnamese athletics is to win 12-14 gold medals and be in the top group.

In preparation, the athletics teams are entering the final sprint stage. A group including SEA Games 32 gold medalist in the 800m, athlete Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, is being trained in China for about 3 weeks under the guidance of Coach Tu Tam.

The remaining athletes, including Nguyen Thi Oanh, Quach Thi Lan, Trung Cuong... are all Vietnam's hopes at SEA Games 33 and are also actively training. Nguyen Thi Oanh is expected to continue to be the biggest hope of Vietnamese athletics.

To aim for the goal of winning 12-14 gold medals, according to Tien Phong's research, athletics is also focusing on a series of new faces. Notably, Ta Ngoc Tuong, who just broke the 400m distance record at the 2025 National Athletics Championships with a time of 45.59 seconds.

Another name expected to shine is Nguyen Khanh Linh, who won two consecutive championships in 2018 and 2019 at the Asian Youth Championships 1,500m. At the 2025 Thailand International Athletics Open, Khanh Linh won the gold medal with a time of 4 minutes 30 seconds 27.

Will Nguyen Khanh Linh shine at SEA Games 33?

General Secretary Nguyen Manh Hung admitted that defeating the Thais at home is a big challenge for Vietnamese athletics. However, this congress will also be an opportunity for many young Vietnamese athletes to practice their skills and gain competition experience. As the "gold mine" of Vietnamese sports at regional congresses, athletics always "shoulders" the big medal target. This is pressure but at the same time is also the motivation for the "machine" of Vietnamese athletics to always maintain high operating capacity.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/sea-games-33-nguyen-thi-oanh-va-nhung-vu-khi-moi-cua-dien-kinh-viet-nam-post1793499.tpo