Lò Thị Hoàng springs a surprise with a new record of 56.37m in the women’s javelin.VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hùng

Vietnamese athletes have won the hearts of millions of Vietnamese sports fans across the nation, not only by winning a shower of gold medals but also by breaking many records of the SEA Games on home soils. 

New records have been set in javelin, weightlifting, running and particularly, swimming.

Track and field athlete Lò Thị Hoàng broke the SEA Games record in the women's javelin throw of 56.37m on Wednesday. Hoàng overcame five athletes, including defending champion Natta Nachan of Thailand, in this event and broke the old record of 55.97m set by a Thai athlete, a record that had stood for 15 years.

Weightlifter Lại Gia Thành sets a new record of 268kg and defends his title in the men’s 55kg. VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hùng

Weightlifter Lại Gia Thành set a new Games record and defended his title in the men’s 55kg with a total of 268kg on Thursday. He lifted a clean and jerk of 148kg, higher than his record in the previous SEA Games by 6kg.

Khổng Mỹ Phượng of Việt Nam won the silver medal in the women's 45kg and broke the previous record. VNA/VNS Photo Phạm Tuấn Anh

Meanwhile, Khổng Mỹ Phượng broke the previous record set by another Vietnamese weightlifter Vương Thị Huyền in the snatch with 80kg in the women's 45kg. However, she only managed a lift of 92kg in the clean and jerk and had to settle for silver in the event.

Vietnamese runner Nguyễn Thi Oanh sets record in the women’s 3,000m hurdles. VNA/VNS Photo Quang Hà

The running event saw Vietnamese runner Nguyễn Thi Oanh rise as a star after she won a hat-trick of gold over two days. Oanh triumphed in the women’s 1,500m and 5,000m. She is also the winner of the women’s 3,000m hurdles the following day, clocking 9min 46sec to break her own record of 10min and 0.02sec set at SEA Games 30 in the Philippines.

The most impressive performances from Vietnamese athletes came in swimming when continuous records were set by both individuals and teams.

Swimming star Nguyễn Huy Hoàng sets a Games record in the men's 400m freestyle. VNA/VNS Photo Phạm Kiên

Swimming star Nguyễn Huy Hoàng set a new record in men's 400m freestyle. The Tokyo Olympian finished first with a time of 3:48:46 after his solo performance in the last lap of the race.

With a result of 4:18:10, Trần Hưng Nguyên not only maintained his top position in the men’s 400m medley from the last Games in 2019 but also broke the previous Games record of 4:20:65 set by himself.

Another swimming rising star, Phạm Thanh Bảo, won a gold medal in the men’s 100m breaststroke and broke the record (1:01:46) held by James Daiparines of the Philippines at the 2019 SEA Games

Particularly, the Vietnamese swimming team, including Nguyễn Hữu Kim Sơn, Nguyễn Huy Hoàng, Hoàng Quý Phước and Trần Hưng Nguyên, set a new record with a time of 7:16:31, winning a gold medal in the men's freestyle 4x200m relay event. This is the second time at SEA Games 31, that Vietnamese swimmers defeated Rio 2016 Olympic champion Joseph Schooling of Singapore and his teammates in the relay event. VNS