Runner Nguyễn Thị Oanh celebrates her result in the women’s 10,000m event at National Sports Games. — Photo thanhnien.vn

In the women’s 10,000m event, Nguyễn Thị Oanh proved her invincibility in this division. She finished first with a time of 33:13.23, breaking the national record of 34:02.59 set by Phạm Thị Hồng Lệ at the national championship last year.

Oanh’s result is considered the best female 10,000m running parameter in Southeast Asia over the past decade. It also broke the Games record of 35:10.17 set by Phạm Thị Huệ in 2018.

While on the men’s side, veteran Nguyễn Văn Lai showed his strong sprint to take gold medal with a time of 30:36.86. His result broke the record of 30:46.21 of Nguyễn Chí Đông set 20 years ago at the 2002 National Sports Games, to nearly 10 seconds.

Athletics saw Lê Thị Tuyết, who weighs just 37kg and is 1.40m tall, breaking the Games record in the women’s marathon. She finished with a time of 2:47.3, breaking the record of 2:48.00 set by Phạm Thị Bình in 2014.

Runner Lê Thị Tuyết won gold and broke the Games record in the women’s marathon. — Photo thanhnien.vn

SEA Games 31 champion Hoàng Nguyên Thanh not only won the men's marathon gold medal with a time of 2:25.02, but also broke the Games record of 2:26.32 of Bùi Thế Anh in 2014.

In May, Thanh became the first Vietnamese male athlete to win a gold medal in the marathon event at the SEA Games.

Elsewhere, Ngần Ngọc Nghĩa also impressed in the men's 100m race with two special records.

He successfully completed the category after clocking a time of 10.35sec, breaking his own national record of 10.40 set at the 2020 national championship. At the same time, he broke his own Games record of 10.47 set in 2018.

In the women's heptathlon, Nguyễn Linh Na achieved 5,440 points, breaking the Games record of 5,277 points set by Nguyễn Thị Thu Cúc in Đà Nẵng in 2006. Na also made her new national record when she broke her own national record of 5,415 points set at the 31st SEA Games in May.

Nguyễn Trung Cường, who won the 2018 Asian Youth Championship's bronze medal and silver medal at the 30th SEA Games, bagged gold medal in the men's 3000m obstacle race.

Cường completed his race in 8:58.35 to surpass the Games’ record of 8:59.06 set by Đỗ Quốc Luật in 2018 in Hà Nội

In the men’s 5,000m race, Cường also beat 36-year-old runner Lai to take gold and set a new Games record with a time of 14:33.54. The previous Games record of 14:38.92 was set by Lai in National Sports Games 2010.

Cường has come back strong and powerful because just eight months ago, he failed to win a place to attend the 31st SEA Games and he only finished fourth in the National Athletics Championship in 2021.

In other news, Bùi Thị Nguyên, the 31st SEA Games champion won gold and broke the Games record in the women's 100m hurdles with a time of 13.38, breaking the old Games record of 13.49 set by Bạch Phương Thảo in 2010.

In the men’s long jump, Nguyễn Tiến Trọng won gold medal and and set a new Games record with a jump of 7.77m, surpassing the old record of 7.70m set by Phạm Văn Lâm at the National Sports Games 2018. Trọng is still holding the national record of 7.98m performed at the 2019 national championship.

The National Sports Festival takes place every four years. 43 sports are held in 11 cities and provinces but the main host is Quảng Ninh Province.

The athletics sports attracted the participation of 502 athletes, competing for 50 events. — VNS