Vietnam finished the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines as the runner-up after the host, the country's best result at the regional event since 2003.

The Vietnamese delegation to the Philippines, consisting of 568 athletes competing in 43 sports, had won 98 gold, 85 silver, and 105 bronze medals when the 30th SEA Games came to a close on Wednesday.

Vietnam ranked second behind the Philippines, who claimed 149 gold, 117 silver, and 121 bronze medals.

Thailand completed the top three with 92 gold, 103 silver, and 123 bronze medals.

The second ranking with 288 medals achieved in total exceeded Vietnam’s target of winning at least 60 gold medals and ranking third in the final medal tally, and is also the country's best result at the Games since 2003, when Hanoi hosted the event.

Among the sports, athletics, swimming, arnis, wrestling, taekwondo, wushu, artistic gymnastics, dancesport, karate, weightlifting, kurash, fencing, and judo contributed the most medals.

Notably, the Vietnamese athletics, wrestling, weightlifting, and kurash teams finished top of their respective sports.

The SEA Games are a biennial event governed by the Southeast Asian Games Federation under the supervision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia.

The first edition of the event was held in 1959 and it has since grown to be one of the region’s largest sporting events, hosting athletes from the 11 countries in Southeast Asia.

This year’s SEA Games were organized in the Philippines from November 30 to December 11, with athletes competing in 530 events across 56 sports.

The closing ceremony of the event commenced at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium in the Filipino province of Tarlac, around 135 kilometers from Manila, at 6:00 pm on Wednesday (Vietnam time).

In the handover ceremony, Vietnam will take over the SEA Games flag and deliver a cultural presentation as the nation will host the 31st SEA Games in 2021.

A fireworks show will then illuminate the 20,000-seat Athletics Stadium, accompanied by a performance by American musical group Black Eyed Peas.

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