Vietnamese sports reaffirm their top position.

The 33rd SEA Games have concluded, and Vietnamese sports continue to affirm their top position in the region with records and numerous historic milestones, along with a new generation of talented young athletes, creating a foundation for the country's sports to confidently aim for higher goals after the SEA Games.

Báo Nhân dân•21/12/2025

The U22 Vietnam team expressed their joy and gratitude to coach Kim Sang-sik after winning the gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games.

This tournament conveyed a clear message about regional sports , with Olympic and world records being set, demonstrating a strong transformation.

At this SEA Games, the head of the Vietnamese sports delegation, Nguyen Hong Minh, emphasized that success lies in achieving key objectives with significant meaning, demonstrating that Vietnamese sports are gradually approaching higher standards of continental and world sports.

Highlights of Vietnamese sports

One of the biggest highlights was shooting, where shooter Trinh Thu Vinh won the Gold Medal in the women's 10m air pistol event with a final score of 242.7 – far surpassing the 241.3 score of the silver medalist at the Paris Olympics, demonstrating the professional ability and strong potential of Vietnamese female shooters. Thu Vinh also made a significant contribution, along with Nguyen Thuy Trang, Trieu Thi Hoa Hong, and Ha Minh Thanh, to helping Vietnam break a series of SEA Games records in the 10m air pistol and 25m rapid-fire pistol events.

The mixed men's and women's 4x400m relay team also broke the Games record by a significant margin. Overall, shooting and athletics broke 6 SEA Games records, demonstrating the stability in investment, training, and sustainable depth of achievement in key sports of Vietnamese sports.

A highlight of Vietnamese sports at this SEA Games was the gold medal won by the U22 men's football team after a spectacular comeback against Thailand in the final, securing a 3-2 victory. This demonstrated the resilience, unwavering determination, and fighting spirit of the young players under the experienced guidance of coach Kim Sang-sik. The Vietnamese women's football team also showcased their technical and tactical prowess, reaching continental heights in their dominant performances.

The spirit of the Vietnamese men's and women's football players not only brought glory to the nation but also earned the recognition of fans in the region for a football system that is being invested in systematically, in the right direction, and has a solid foundation.

Besides the records, the 33rd SEA Games also marked the first-time gold medal wins in women's futsal, men's sepak takraw, and bowling – sports that are not traditionally strong for Vietnam. In particular, the gold medal in men's singles bowling won by 16-year-old Tran Hoang Khoi is a positive sign for expanding the achievements of Vietnamese sports.

Swimming also made its mark when the Vietnamese women's swimming team won their first medal (Bronze Medal) in the 4x200m freestyle relay, especially in the context of Vietnam's swimming team rebuilding its next generation after the rise of "swimming star" Anh Vien. In golf, young athletes continued to mature, winning 3 medals, most notably the first-ever women's individual Bronze Medal in SEA Games history, achieved by Le Chuc An.

Alongside the rising young talents, the stability of veteran athletes remains a solid pillar. Nguyen Thi Oanh continues to affirm her status as a "legend" of Vietnamese and Southeast Asian athletics with a "hat-trick" of gold medals in running: 5,000m, 10,000m, and 3,000m steeplechase, extending her winning streak to four consecutive SEA Games. Vietnamese veteran wrestlers continued to dominate despite the reduction of many of their strongest events, winning 10 out of 12 gold medals at the Games.

The 33rd SEA Games witnessed a convincing "debut" of the next generation. Swimmer Nguyen Quang Thuan (younger brother of Anh Vien) won his first gold medal in the men's 400m individual medley.

Besides that, there are young athletes who, although only winning Silver medals, show great potential, such as Nguyen Quoc in the men's 200m freestyle swimming event, or female athlete Cam Tu in athletics who broke the national record in the women's 200m race after 15 years. Notably, female athlete Kim Anh, born in 2006, won the Gold medal in the high jump with a height of 1.86m, while in the long jump, Tran Thi Loan won the Gold medal with a performance of 6.53m, and her 19-year-old teammate Ha Thi Thuy Hang also won the Silver medal with a performance of 6.29m... demonstrating that Vietnam's young talent is ready to shoulder responsibility in the future.

Overall, the success of Vietnamese sports in key Olympic disciplines at the 33rd SEA Games lies not in a few isolated moments, but in the broader picture: records were elevated, along with historical achievement milestones, while veteran athletes maintained their form and a new generation of young athletes emerged. This is an important foundation for Vietnamese sports to confidently aim for higher goals after the SEA Games.

There are still many things to worry about.

As the 33rd SEA Games concluded, Vietnamese sports faced an unavoidable reality: 87 gold medals fell short of the minimum target of 90. While still maintaining a position among the top three delegations in the region, failing to meet the target indicates an incomplete Games, and could even be considered a worrying stagnation from a long-term strategic perspective.

If the training system, resource allocation, and investment strategy are not reviewed soon, focusing on long-term priorities, the gap with regional competitors will narrow, or even reverse. This failure, viewed positively, should be seen as a necessary turning point for Vietnamese sports to adjust before entering larger arenas.

Progress and shortcomings of the 33rd SEA Games

Two weeks of competition at the 33rd SEA Games clearly reflected the remarkable progress in Southeast Asian sports achievements. At the heart of this breakthrough was weightlifting. In the men's 60kg category, Thai weightlifter Theerapong Silachai made history by successfully lifting 173kg in the clean and jerk – surpassing the previous world record (172kg). Indonesian Olympic champion Rizki Juniansyah of Paris 2024 also demonstrated this by successfully lifting 205kg in the clean and jerk, setting a world record with a total lift of 365kg in the men's 79kg category. This shows that the SEA Games have become part of a global elite competition, rather than just a regional event as before.

Not only weightlifting, but athletics at the 33rd SEA Games also witnessed a historic leap forward. Thai "prodigy" Puripol Boonson became the first Southeast Asian athlete to run the 100m in under 10 seconds, achieving a time of 9.94 seconds in the qualifying round. He was recognized by the International Athletics Federation as being among the top 5 fastest U20 runners in the world and the top 3 fastest runners in Asia.

Besides the improved professional achievements, the 33rd SEA Games also had a number of organizational problems. The most prominent was in the overall planning and coordination, as changes to the competition schedule, venues, and even some professional regulations in several sports close to the opening day caused difficulties for participating delegations, directly affecting the professional preparation, training cycles, and competitive mindset of the athletes.

Despite the aforementioned issues, overall, the 33rd SEA Games was a successful event, aiming to promote regional sports development and strengthen ASEAN friendship. It was also an important opportunity for Vietnamese sports to assess its level compared to the region, thereby outlining a reasonable development roadmap and strategy for the future.

TIEN MINH

Source: https://nhandan.vn/the-thao-viet-nam-khang-dinh-vi-the-top-dau-post932037.html