Vietnam won a total of 58 gold, 50 silver and 60 bronze medals to hang on to third place in the rankings. The Vietnamese athletics team had their best showing ever at this SEA games. Runner Le Tu Chinh won 3 gold medals and set a SEA Games record in the women’s 100 and 200 meters.  Coach Vu Ngoc Loi said: “Our athletics team won 17 gold medals and set 2 SEA Games records. We were aiming for 10 golds but we surpassed our target.”

Vietnam won 10 gold medals in swimming. Nguyen Thi Anh Vien bagged 8 gold medals and broke 4 SEA Games records, the best achievement at SEA Games 29. Swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang won gold in the 1,500 meters event and broke a SEA Games record while Lam Quang Nhat won a silver. 15-year old Nguyen Huu Kim Son won gold in the men’s 400m individual medley and set a new SEA Games record.

Vietnam secured 5 out of 7 gold medals in women’s gymnastics.  Vietnam surpassed Singapore in table tennis to win a gold medal for the men’s team. Weightlifter Trinh Van Vinh defeated Eko Yuli Izawan of Indonesia, an Olympic silver medalist, to win a gold medal. Vietnam’s female soccer team won its 5^th SEA Games gold medal by defeating Malaysia 6-0 in the final round. Coach Mai Duc Chung said: “I was so excited at the 5^th goal that I just wanted to jump. I encouraged my team to continue to play. After scoring the 5^th goal, I knew that we had won.”

Cycling, Karate, and Wushu athletes all achieved their targets.