Vietnam grabs 4 gold medals at SEA Games

Vietnamese athletics yesterday won 4 gold medals at the 26th Southeast Asian Games held in Indonesia.

In the 1,500 m race for women, Thanh Hang had a smooth start as she was the first one to cross the finish line with the record 4 minutes 15:75, which was over 3 seconds faster than her team mate Do Thi Thao.

“This gold medal gives me confidence for the next 800m race on Tuesday,” Hang said. “I also aim for gold and Olympic standards.”

Previously, Duong Thi Viet Anh won the championship title in the women’s high jump with a result of 1.9m even though she had injuries in the ankle and calf.

This is the first time Anh has joined SEA Games and won gold.

21 year-old Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc won another gold medal for Vietnam in the women’s 20km walking after finishing the race at 1 hour 43:22 minutes.

Vu Van Huyen won the fourth gold medal in the decathlon with a total of 7,223 points, 393 more than his compatriot Nguyen Van Hue, who won the silver medal.

On the other hand, Nguyen Dinh Cuong was not only unable to protect his championship in the 1500m run but also failed to win a medal.

Nguyen Thi Thuy came after Thai Treewadee Yongphan at the finish line of the women’s 400m run and ended up receiving silver.

In other events, the Vietnamese team has also had good results. In swimming, 18-year-old swimmer Hoang Quy Phuoc beat Indonesian Glen Victor in the 100m butterfly for males with a record of 53:07 seconds and 15-year old Nguyen Thi Anh Vien won a silver medal in the 400m female Individual Medley.

So far, Vietnam has won 19 gold, 19 silver and 21 bronze medals, ranking third after Indonesia and Thailand.

SEA Games medal tally on Nov.14: