Vietnam through the Games

The 16th SEA Games in the Philippines was the second Games that the Vietnamese sport contingent attended after the national reunification in 1975. The country was represented by a delegation made up of 150 members, with 100 athletes competing in 15 out of 27 sports at the Games.

With better preparations, Vietnamese athletes brought home a total of 29 medals, including seven golds, 12 silvers and 10 bronzes, ranking seventh among the nine participating countries.


Shooting continued to be Vietnam’s “gold mine” contributing four of the seven gold medals won, two of which came from female shooter Dang Thi Dong.

She finished on top in the women’s 60-shot rifle prone event with 595 points, breaking the SEA Games record of 585 points and also breaking the Asian record of 594 points set by Chinese Jin Dong Xiang in 1982. Later, Dong also joined her teammates to take another team gold medal in the same category.

The 18th SEA Games in Thailand witnessed Vietnam’s claim of up to 10 gold medals; however, as for the home fans, the silver medal won by the men’s football team was the most impressive.

For the first time after years, millions of football lovers across the country had the chance to pour down streets to celebrate as Vietnam made it through to the semi-finals.


Ho Chi Minh City was filled with the festive atmosphere after its players, Tran Minh Chien and Le Huynh Duc, contributed significantly to Vietnam’s 2-1 semi-final victory over Myanmar.

Track and field athletes also set a milestone at the SEA Games arena with the gold medal secured by Vu Bich Huong in the women’s 100m hurdles discipline. It was the first title for Vietnamese athletics at the largest regional sporting event.

The men’s singles table tennis gold medal won by Vu Manh Cuong, the first for Vietnam after 28 years, was also among the biggest highlights of the Vietnamese contingent at the 1995 Games.

It was the first time that a SEA Games edition was hosted by Brunei. Due to its limited land area, the host country only organised competition in 21 sports, leading to considerable cuts concerning the number of athletes and medal sets.

For the first time after years, millions of football lovers across the country had the chance to pour down streets to celebrate as Vietnam made it through to the semi-finals.


The Vietnamese contingent departed for Brunei with 230 members, with 170 athletes competing in 14 events. Martial arts accounted for 14 of the total 17 gold medals secured by Vietnam at the Games, while the remaining three were won in athletics (2) and cycling (1). Particularly, the pencak silat team blasted up to seven gold medals, even more than those won by Indonesia, where this martial art originated.

Vietnam claimed both the men’s and women’s 800m run titles at the Brunei Games, thanks to Phan Van Hoa and Pham Dinh Khanh Doan, respectively, thereby marking the start of Vietnamese athletics’ domination on medium distances in Southeast Asia, which still lasts until today. This could be considered the best SEA Games for Vietnamese athletics since its debut at the largest regional sporting event, with a collection of two gold, four silver and eight bronze medals.

The 22nd SEA Games took place in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from December 5-13, 2003. This was the first time in history Vietnam hosted the largest regional sporting event and the first time Timor Leste participated in the SEA Games arena.

Around 5000 athletes from 11 participating nations participated in the Games, with Vietnam and Thailand competing in all the 442 events in 32 sports.

For the first time ever, Vietnam led the overall medal tally with a total of 158 golds, 97 silvers and 91 bronzes, leaving Thailand far behind with only 89 golds.


Vietnamese shooters accounted for 25 of the total 42 shooting gold medals at the Games, with Nguyen Manh Tuong contributing five golds (three individual and two team titles) – an exceptional achievement that has yet to be conquered by any shooters so far.

For such an impressive showing, Tuong was voted the best male athlete of the Games, alongside Singaporean Joscelin Yeo, who claimed the women’s title with six swimming gold medals.


To some extent, the 22nd SEA Games had basically changed the face and position of Vietnamese sports in the regional arena. Up to now, Vietnamese athletes have always finished in the top three of the overall SEA Games medal count. The success also enabled Vietnamese sport to move towards further destinations as well as greater goals, such as the Asian Games and the Olympic Games.

The successful organisation of the 22nd SEA Games affirmed Vietnam’s ability in hosting large sporting events, acting as a premise for the country to take the honour of hosting big international sport games later on, including the finals of the 2007 Asian Cup, the third Asian Indoor Games in 2009, the 2016 Asian Beach Games and especially the 18th Asian Games in 2019.

Vietnam sent more than 500 athletes to the 24th SEA Games in Thailand and successfully defended its third-place finish on the overall medal tally, with 64 golds, 58 silvers and 82 bronzes.

At that Games version, Vietnamese sport still affirmed its strength in regards to Olympic sports, including track and field. The athletics team went on to demonstrate their absolute domination on the women’s 100m and 200m, the men’s and women’s 800m and 1,500m run, by claiming a total of eight gold, four silver and five bronze medals, and establishing four new SEA Games records.


In addition, Vietnam’s men’s volleyball team made it through to the final match for the first time ever since the country’s reintegration into the regional arena. Unfortunately, they had to settle for a silver medal after failing to beat their Indonesian opponents.

The 26th SEA Games was the fourth edition to be hosted by Indonesia, following the previous three in 1979, 1987 and 1997.

Attending the Games with over 600 athletes, Vietnam won a total of 96 gold, 90 silver and 100 bronze medals, ranking third among the ten participating delegations (excluding Brunei).


Notably, Vietnamese gymnasts brought home up to 11 of the Games’ total 13 gold medals, rising to top the Southeast Asian region in the admiration of participating contingents.

“Gymnastics queen” Phan Thi Ha Thanh contributed the most significantly to Vietnam’s feat in Palembang, as she accounted for three golds, including the precious all-around title. It is also the most successful SEA Games in history for Vietnam’s gymnastic team.

In addition to gymnastics, the athletics, weightlifting and shooting teams also experienced a successful SEA Games, contributing nine, eight and seven gold medals, respectively, to Vietnam’s overall tally.

Participating in the 27th SEA Games in Myanmar with approximately 520 athletes, Vietnam successfully realised the goal of defending a top-three place in the overall medal count, winning a total number of 74 gold, 85 silver and 86 bronze medals, with 10 golds each in athletics and wrestling, seven in shooting and six in Vovinam.


Despite securing only five golds, five silvers and two bronzes, Vietnamese swimming experienced a very successful competition in Nay Pyi Taw. Nguyen Thi Anh Vien became the first female Vietnamese swimmer to be crowned SEA Games champion over the past half century.

The Can Tho-born athlete wrapped up her SEA Games campaign with an amazing collection of three gold medals and two new SEA Games records – very impressive numbers. Especially, Vien was also the first female swimmer to produce such a miracle during the SEA Games’ 54-year history.

The 28th SEA Games was a positive sign for Vietnamese sports as over two thirds of its gold medals won at the Games came from Olympics events.

Represented by 392 athletes in 28 of 36 events, the Vietnamese contingent won a total of 73 gold, 53 silver and 60 bronze medals, including 11 in athletics, 10 in swimming, nine in athletics and eight each in rowing and fencing.


Nguyen Thi Huyen was the most spectacular performer of the track and field team, as she captured three gold medals (two individual and one team), broke three Games records and secured two 2016 Olympic berths in the women’s 400m and 400m hurdles.

However, swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien was the brightest Vietnamese performer during the Games. Among the 10 gold medals won by the swimming team, Anh Vien took centre stage in both the domestic and international media with eight individual golds and eight new SEA Games records.

She also carved her name into the SEA Games history as the athlete to win the most individual gold medals, surpassing Singaporean athletes, Jescelin Yeo and Tao Li, who won seven each in 1993 and 2011 respectively.