Vietnam wins six additional gold medals in track and field, swimming and karate

The track and field team brought home three additional titles for Vietnam on the evening of August 24, thereby increasing their gold medal tally at the ongoing 29th SEA Games to 11.

Nguyen Thi Huyen has won two gold medals so far in this year's SEA Games.
Nguyen Thi Huyen has won two gold medals so far in this year's SEA Games.

>>> Track and field: Vietnam dominates 1,500m distance

Nguyen Thi Huyen lived up to expectations by claiming the women’s 400m crown with a time of 52.48 seconds. This is Huyen’s second title in this year’s Games, following the previous one won on the 400m hurdles race.

Bui Van Dong was crowned the men’s long jump champion with a distance of 7.83 metres, while Duong Thi Viet Anh successfully cleared the 1.83-metre level to win the women’s high jump discipline.

With the three newly won titles, track and field has risen to become the team that has secured the most gold medals for Vietnam (11 golds).

Swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien was the most impressive Vietnamese athlete on Thursday night, as she pocketed two gold medals in a row in the 200m individual medley and 800m freestyle categories.

Vien completed the 200m medley race in a time of 2:14.25, nearly three seconds faster than the Singaporean silver medalist, Samantha Louisa Ginn Yeo (2:16.85), and over three seconds faster than the bronze medal winner, Ressa Kania Dewi of Indonesia (2:17.46).

She then went on to dominate the 800m freestyle race with a time of 8:35.55, leaving far behind two Thai competitors, Ammiga Himathongkom (8:45.44) and Natthanan Junkrajang (8:51.09).

This is fifth gold medal bagged by “Little mermaid” Anh Vien at the 29th SEA Games. She had previously secured three individual titles in the women’s 100m and 200m backstroke and 400 freestyle events.

Karate artists, including Nguyen Minh Phung, Nguyen Van Hai and Le Minh Thuan, brought home another gold medal for Vietnam after brilliantly defeating Thai opponents 3-0 in the men’s kumite final.

Alongside the four golds, Vietnamese athletes also blasted three additional silver medals (two in swimming, one in track and field) and three other bronzes (two in track and field, one in swimming).

Concluding the fifth official day of competition, Vietnam remains in second place on the medal count with 37 golds, behind Malaysia with 63 golds.

Duong Thi Viet Anh celebrates her high jump title.

Vietnam wins six additional gold medals in track and field, swimming and karate ảnh 2

Swimmer Anh Vien (centre) stars with a double gold medals in the 200m medley and 800m freestyle events.