SEA Games 32: Vietnam wins more gold medals, breaks record

Vietnam won two more gold medals in karate on the third day of the 32nd SEA Games on May 8.

Vietnamese men's kumite team cheers over their victory at SEA Games 32. Photo: Dan Tri

The Vietnamese Men's Kumite Team fought against Malaysia in the final and won the gold medal with a close score of 3-2. On the morning of the same day, the "golden girl" of the kumite team - Karate Vietnam, had won against the Philippines with a score of 2-0.

On the second day of the SEA Games 32 on May 7, Vietnam won a total of nine gold medals. Swimmer Pham Thanh Bao set a record in the men's 100m breaststroke. The athlete finished first with a time of 1 minute and 0.97 seconds. His time was a new competition record, beating the 1 minute and 1.17 seconds he set at the SEA Games 31 in Hanoi last year.

Born in 2021 in the southern province of Ben Tre, Bao is also the first Vietnamese athlete to break records at the 32nd SEA Games.

This is the third time this athlete has participated in the SEA Games. For the very first time in 2019 in the Philippines, Pham Thanh Bao won two silver medals.

Three years later, back home in Vietnam, this swimmer won two gold medals and broke the record in the men's 100m breaststroke.

Swimmer Pham Thanh Bao makes a new record at SEA Games 32. Photo: VNA

Thanks to these great achievements, Bao has become a "hero" of Vietnamese sports. No Vietnamese athlete has won a gold medal in the breaststroke swimming competition at the SEA Games in the past 13 years.

Meanwhile, in women's 3x3 basketball, Vietnam beat the Philippines 21-16 to win the regional gold medal for the first time, ending the long dominance of the Philippines and Thailand in the sport.

As of 2.30pm on May 8, Vietnam was third on the medals table with 17 gold medals, while host Cambodia topped the table with 33 gold medals.

The SEA Games 32 host contingent, Cambodia, has far outperformed its closest competitors, such as Indonesia with 20 gold, 12 silver, and 26 bronze medals, Vietnam (17 gold, 20 silver and 27 bronze medals), Thailand (17 gold, 17 silver and 26 bronze medals) and the Philippines (15 gold, 21 silver and 24 bronze medals).