Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Huyen (836) wins the women's 400m (Photo: VNA) The article by Sazali Abdul Aziz reported that after twodays of track and field competitions at the SEA Games 31 in Hanoi, Vietnamtopped the medal table.
For nearly two decades following Thailand, Vietnam finallyusurped their rivals to emerge as the top nation in athletics in the 2017 Gamesin Malaysia.
They followed it up with another table-topping show twoyears later in the Philippines, and are looking to make it three in a row.
Vietnam are aiming for at least 15 gold medals out of 47 onoffer and already won nine as of late May 15, nearly double that of the Thais,who are the next-best nation with five.
The author cited Nguyen Manh Hung, general secretary of theVietnam Athletics Federation, as saying that their recent rise is a result of aheavy focus and investment which the nation's Ministry of Culture, Sports andTourism placed on Olympic sports in 2015.
Some 100 billion VND (4.3 million USD) was pumped into theproject, which aimed to deliver medals at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, as wellas the 2018 Asian Games.
At Rio 2016, shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh delivered Vietnam'sfirst gold medal and two years later, Quach Thi Lan (400m hurdles) and Bui ThiThu Thao (long jump) delivered the nation's first triumphs in track and fieldat the Asian Games in Indonesia.
But Thailand are not sitting still and with the SEA Gamesreturning to Bangkok in 2025, they are out to reclaim their supremacy andpride. In Hanoi, they have targeted at least 12 gold medals, the articleadded./.
VNA
