Vietnamese sports and the 'challenge' of winning gold medals at the ASIAD.

"Gold" is still concentrated in familiar disciplines.

On the afternoon of October 3rd, after wrestler Nguyen Thi My Trang failed to win the bronze medal in the women's 57 kg category, the Vietnamese sports delegation's journey at the 2026 ASIAD in Aichi-Nagoya ( Japan ) officially came to an end. Vietnam no longer has any athletes competing in the remaining events on October 4th.

The Vietnamese delegation finished the Games with 25 medals, including 3 gold, 3 silver, and 19 bronze. Before the Games, Vietnam set a target of at least 4 gold medals with 348 athletes competing in 33 sports and disciplines. Thus, in the most important target, the delegation did not achieve the set goal.

Vietnam's three gold medals came from only two sports: karate and sepak takraw. Karate kicked off with a victory in the women's team poomsae event by Nguyen Ngoc Tram, Bui Ngoc Nhi, and Hoang Thi Thu Uyen. Sepak takraw then became a highlight, winning two consecutive gold medals in the women's doubles and women's quartet events.

In particular, the 2-1 victory over Thailand in the women's four-person final helped sepak takraw complete a double gold medal win, and also became the sport that contributed the most to the Vietnamese delegation's achievements.

It is noteworthy that these are also the two sports that brought Vietnam gold medals at the 19th Asian Games. After one edition of the Games, Vietnam's gold medal sources remain concentrated in a very narrow group of sports, while not many new events have emerged that have the potential to compete for the top position in Asia.

The three silver medals won by Dinh Van Tam in the men's 56kg wushu sanshou, Nguyen Thi Tam in the women's 51kg boxing, and Chau Ngoc Tuyet Sang in virtual reality taekwondo show that Vietnam still has athletes capable of advancing deep into the competition and competing for medals. However, at the ASIAD Games, the gap between stepping onto the podium and winning the championship remains significant.

This problem is more evident in subjects that were once expected to perform well.

At the previous Games, shooting brought home one gold, one silver, and one bronze medal. This time, the achievement was only one bronze medal in the women's 10m pistol team event. Shooter Trinh Thu Vinh reached the final of the women's 25m pistol event but finished fourth, while expected contenders like Pham Quang Huy failed to win any individual medals. This decline significantly impacted the overall performance, as shooting was a sport in which Vietnam once had the potential to compete at the Asian and world levels.

Rowing, however, showed a different trend. Vietnamese rowers won 4 bronze medals, one more than the previous Games. This result shows that the ability to compete for medals has been maintained, but there is still a large gap to go from bronze to gold.

Athletics also showed improvement with a bronze medal win in the 4x400m mixed relay with a time of 3 minutes 14 seconds 54, after failing to win any medals at the previous Games. However, apart from this event, most Vietnamese athletes have yet to establish a sufficiently strong position among the gold medal contenders.

Meanwhile, esports contributed two bronze medals, including the League of Legends team's achievement. This is a field with potential, but setting a gold medal target in a sport where the investment and training system at the national team level still lacks the necessary depth suggests that performance forecasting needs to be more carefully considered.

The "problem" of winning a gold medal.

Looking solely at the total of 25 medals, the 2026 Asian Games still has some bright spots. The 19 bronze medals show that Vietnam has a relatively large contingent of athletes capable of competing for medals at the Asian level. However, the number of athletes truly capable of competing for the top positions is still limited.

This gap is clearly evident when compared to the Southeast Asian arena. In the region, Vietnam can win hundreds of gold medals at the SEA Games. But when stepping onto the continental stage, where strong sporting nations like China, Japan, South Korea, Iran , Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan gather, that advantage is no longer maintained.

Therefore, the problem for Vietnamese sports after the 2026 Asian Games is not simply the lack of a gold medal to meet the target. The bigger gap lies in the fact that the number of events in which there is actually a chance to compete for the championship is still too small.

This necessitates a review of how performance targets are set before each Games. An event considered a potential gold medal contender should be evaluated based on specific criteria: where Vietnamese athletes stand in comparison to the top Asian athletes; the gap in skill level with competitors; how much progress competitors are making; and, within a Games cycle, how much the Vietnamese athlete is likely to close that gap.

This approach should also be applied to the selection of priority sports. It's impossible to rely solely on past achievements to expect a sport to continue winning gold medals, nor should the list of gold medal contenders be expanded simply to raise performance targets. More importantly, it's crucial to identify disciplines with a clear professional foundation and then focus resources on them for a sufficiently long period.

The reality at the 2026 Asian Games shows that sepak takraw and karate remain important pillars, but that is not enough if Vietnamese sports want to raise their standing on the continental stage and aim for the Olympics. Along with protecting strong sports, it is necessary to create conditions for sports that have achieved international success, such as shooting, athletics, rowing, and martial arts, to have more opportunities to develop athletes capable of competing at the highest level.

After the Games, the challenge is not just explaining why the Vietnamese team won 3 instead of 4 gold medals. More importantly, we must look at the gap between the 19 bronze medals and the gold medals. That gap demands more precise strategic selection, longer-term investment, and a more realistic performance evaluation system.

Therefore, the 2026 Asian Games will not only conclude with a medal tally of 25. This is also an opportunity for Vietnamese sports to more clearly identify which disciplines can make breakthroughs, which events need continued investment, and the realistic limits of performance targets in the next cycle.

QM (according to VNA)