Vietnamese athlete Le Tien Long triumphs the men’s 3,000 steeplechase, clocking 9 minutes and 2.84 seconds. (Photo: VNA) The third day of athletics competition witnessed the rise ofyoung runners. Among them was Le Tien Long, who triumphed the men’s 3,000msteeplechase, clocking 9 minutes and 2.84 seconds. It is the first gold medalthe 21-year-old athlete from the central province of Ha Tinh has ever secured in his career.
SEA Games 30 gold medalist Do Quoc Luat finishedsecond with the time of 9 minutes and 6.44 seconds.
Vu Thi Ngoc Ha also overcame ASIAD 18 champion Bui Thi ThuThao to dominate the women’s long jump with a leap of 6.39m, 1cm farther than hersenior teammate. It is Ha’s first SEA Games gold.
The Vietnamese team received two other golds on the sameday, one won by Bui Thi Nguyen in the women’s 100m hurdles with the time of13.51 seconds and the remainder by Khuat Phuong Anh in the women’s 800m, 2minutes and 8.74 seconds.
Vietnam have so far claimed the highest number of medals inathletics – 13 golds, 11 silvers and three bronzes. The team aim for 15 –17 SEA Games golds this year.
They are followed by Thailand with nine golds,five silvers and three bronzes; and the Philippines, three golds, four silversand ten bronzes./.