VietNamNet Bridge – The 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games officially wrapped up after 11 official days of action in Singapore, concluding a successful Games in terms of both organisation and management work.

Sprinter Nguyen Thi Huyen (left) won the 400m hurdles, broke a SEA Games record and secured a berth to the 2016 Olympics.

An array of records were broken marking advancements for sports in the region, but obstacles and limitations remain on the journey to reaching Asian and world levels.

Continuing to conquer pinnacles

More than 7,000 athletes from 11 participating countries battled it out for 402 sets of medals in 36 sports at the 28th SEA Games. After 11 days of competition, Thailand came out on top of the overall medal standings, winning a total of 95 golds, 83 silvers and 69 bronzes. Despite capturing the largest number of medals with 259, Singapore only ended up in second place with 84 golds, 73 silvers and 102 bronzes. In addition to its organisational work - considered the most successful in the SEA Games history with modern competition facilities - the 28th SEA Games also showed positive changes in competition management, in line with the host nation’s pre-Games pledge for a professional and fair SEA Games on the basis of sportsmanship and friendship.

Swimming competitions took centre stages during the Games drawing enthusiastic attention from both fans and media, with the brilliance of Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Anh Vien and Singapore’s Tao Li in the women’s events, and Joseph Schooling of Singapore on the men’s side. Anh Vien has carved her name into the SEA Games history as the athlete to win the most individual gold medals at one Games with a total of eight, while Schooling also made history as the athlete with the largest number of golds won at one Games - six individual and three relay titles.

Thailand continued demonstrating their dominance in Southeast Asia in team sports, as they successfully defended the men’s football crown with a seven-game winning streak and a 24-goal tally, and dominated the volleyball event winning both the men’s and women’s titles.

Vietnamese athletes performed well and brought home 73 gold, 53 silver and 60 bronze medals, far surpassing the modest target of winning from 56 to 65 golds set ahead of the Games - the 28th SEA Games was successful for Vietnam. Furthermore, the number of athletes and the amount of spending was reduced nearly by half compared to those in previous Games. The number of gold medals won at the Games was equivalent to 20% of the number of Vietnamese competitors compared to 15% in previous versions.

It is worth noting the sports accounting for the medals won. A total of 87% of Vietnam’s gold medals were won in Olympic events. The athletics team alone brought home 11 golds for Vietnam and smashed three Games records, including some records that had been held for 20-22 years. Most notably, sprinter Nguyen Thi Huyen seized gold and broke two records in the women’s 400m and 4x400m relay. The gymnastics team settled for nine gold medals from Singapore, with Phan Thi Ha Thanh and Dinh Phuong Thanh accounting for three each. The swimming team took home 10 gold medals, with swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien taking the spotlight in both the domestic and international media with eight individual golds and eight new SEA Games records – a proud achievement for Vietnamese swimming as ten years ago, the team had to strive hard to pocket a single SEA Games gold medal. The fencing team amassed an amazing eight golds, while the rowing squad also went beyond expectation slamming eight gold medals, double its target set ahead of the Games. Encouraging results were also seen in other Olympic sports such as taekwondo, shooting and boxing.

Those abovementioned achievements have shown the sports sector’s changes in investing, improving training quality and making progress in Olympic events, focusing on the top athletes and other young promising talents. Success at the 28th SEA Games has been regarded as a driving force for the sports sector in directing its development strategies, aiming to gradually approach continental and world levels. So far, Vietnam has secured five berths at the 2016 Rio Olympics thanks to shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh and Tran Quoc Cuong in the men’s 50m pistol and 10m air pistol respectively, sprinter Nguyen Thi Huyen in the women’s 400m and 400m hurdles, and swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien in the women’s 400m freestyle.

Swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien won eight gold medals and broke eight SEA Games records in Singapore, making swimming Vietnam’s top sport

Prioritising resources for Olympic sports

Since 1959, the SEA Games has been a place for friendly competition between Southeast Asian nations. However, time and time again, the integrity of the Games and the development of sports in the region have been affected by host nations selecting their own traditional sports for the Games. Host nations often chose ‘domestic’ sports to be included in the Games in order to rack up more gold medals. Many host nations even remove Olympic disciplines to prevent other nations from winning more gold medals. As a result, the development of sports in the region has been unstable and has abraded fans’ support of the SEA Games.

It was not until after the 2012 London Olympics, which saw no Southeast Asian gold medallists, that Thailand took the lead in the campaign “Say no to SEA Games achievement disease” - Thai athletes decided to focus on the Asian Games and Olympic Games arenas rather than race for SEA Games medals.

“The existence of strange traditional sports prevents the SEA Games from making advancements as expected. However, no countries want to lose their interests in the Games even though reform is required. So, we have to make our own choice,” said a Thai sport official.

The Thai people have begun looking towards the continental and world levels. Thailand’s national football team coach Kiatisak Senamuang decided not to accompany the U-23 team to the 28th SEA Games, aiming instead on leading the national squad to earn a World Cup ticket. Meanwhile, Thailand’s taekwondo fighter Panipak Wongpattanakit, who is reigning women’s 46kg world champion, had been freed of the 28th SEA Games in order to focus her energy on accumulating points for an Olympic position.

“If traditional sports are kept in the SEA Games’ curricula as a way to connect the spirit among Southeast Asian countries, there is no need for us to send our best athletes to participate,” said Pimol Srivikorn, president of the Taekwondo Association of Thailand.

Racing for SEA Games medals at any cost is a common problem among Southeast Asian nations, leading to poor performances on Asian and world arenas. Aware of this issue, Singapore, the host nation of the 28th Games, made efforts to eliminate some of the issues previously plaguing the Games. However, some issues remained, manifested in arbitrary and unfair judgments by referees in some events. Building a fair SEA Games honouring talents and focusing on Olympic sports is necessary to help sports in the region, including Vietnam’s, approach continental and world levels.

Nhan Dan