Why wasn't Vietnam's historic gold medal counted in the overall medal standings?

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - On the afternoon of December 11th, Quang Van Minh won a historic gold medal in MMA (mixed martial arts). However, this gold medal will not be counted towards the overall medal standings.

In the men's 65kg category, Quang Van Minh secured a dominant victory over Tan Yee Siang (Malaysia) in the final. This is a historic gold medal for MMA in its first participation in the SEA Games.

Quang Van Minh secured a resounding victory against Tan Yee Siang (Screenshot).

Immediately after achieving this remarkable feat, Van Minh received a bonus of 200 million VND from the Vietnam MMA Federation.

However, Van Minh's gold medal was not included in the overall medal tally of the Vietnamese sports delegation. In a meeting in February, the SEAGF Coordinating Committee for the 33rd SEA Games agreed to include MMA as a competitive sport in the tournament.

Because MMA is making its debut at the SEA Games, it is currently classified as a "demonstration sport." This decision stems from an agreement between Thailand and Malaysia (the host country of the upcoming SEA Games) stipulating that only sports introduced at the 33rd SEA Games will be included in future competitions.

Quang Van Minh celebrates Vietnam's first ever gold medal in MMA at the SEA Games (Screenshot).

Therefore, MMA was included in the SEA Games 33 to ensure eligibility for future competitions. For now, in this year's tournament, MMA will not be counted towards the official medal count as it is designated as a demonstration sport.

Earlier, in the women's 54 kg category, Duong Thi Thanh Binh lost to Wulan of Indonesia in the final.

With this initial success, the Vietnamese sports delegation can certainly expect to win many medals in MMA in future Games (if this sport is included as an official event).

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/vi-sao-hcv-lich-su-cua-doan-viet-nam-khong-duoc-tinh-vao-tong-sap-20251211163549326.htm