Vietnam eyes 140 gold medals at 31st SEA Games

Vietnam is striving for 140 gold, 77 silver and 71 bronze medals at the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31), to be hosted by the country this May.

Vietnamese athletes win gold medal at a SEA Games (Photo: VNA)

All-round preparations are underway for the holding of the regional biennial sporting event.

Vietnam bagged 73, 58 and 98 golds in the last three Games from 2015 to 2019, respectively.

Both Malaysia and the Philippines secured more than 140 gold medals when they hosted the most recent Games.

Vietnamese athletes bagged 158 golds out of 444 when the country hosted the SEA Games for the first time in 2003, together with 97 silver and 91 bronze medals.

The sport sector aims to earn the best results in Asian Games and Olympic sports, particularly eight golds in swimming.

Vietnam is also keen to break the previous record of winning 16 gold medals in athletics, and seize up to seven each in karate, taekwondo, judo, shooting, archery and weightlifting, among others.

SEA Games 31 will feature over 40 sports, and 526 events with the attendance of some 10,000 athletes and officials from the 11 Southeast Asian countries./.

VNA