Consecutive failures at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the Paris 2024 Olympics have prevented Vietnamese sports from achieving the goals outlined in the Vietnam Sports Development Strategy to 2020, with a vision toward 2030 set by the government.

On Monday, the 2024 Olympics concluded in Paris after two weeks of thrilling competition, representing the pinnacle of global sports.

However, for Vietnamese sports, it marked the second consecutive Olympics in which they returned home empty-handed.

Missed targets

The Paris 2024 Olympics brought together nearly 11,000 athletes from 206 countries and territories, competing in 32 sports for 329 sets of medals.

Vietnam sent a delegation consisting of 39 members to Paris, including 16 athletes competing in 11 sports. 

Of these 16 athletes, 14 had secured official spots, while the remaining two attended as wild cards for events without qualified participants.

According to the Vietnam Sports Development Strategy to 2020, approved by the government in 2010, Vietnam’s high-performance sports goals included:

- Maintaining a top-three position in Southeast Asian Games

- Achieving 17th-15th place at the 16th Asian Games in 2010

- Having about 30 athletes qualify and win Olympic medals by 2012

- Reaching 15th-13th place at the 17th Asian Games in 2014

- Ensuring about 40 athletes qualify and win Olympic gold medals by 2016

- Attaining 12th-14th place at the 18th Asian Games in 2018

- Achieving about 45 athletes qualifying and winning Olympic medals by 2020

However, the results have not met expectations:

At the London 2012 Olympics, Vietnam had 18 athletes compete and won one bronze medal.

At the Rio 2016 Olympics, 23 Vietnamese athletes qualified and secured one gold and one silver medal.

At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, 18 athletes qualified, but no medals were claimed.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics, 16 athletes qualified, again clinching no medals.

Despite the handful of medals won in 2012 and 2016, the goals for the number of Olympic-qualified athletes and medal achievements have not been met. Performance has notably declined at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics.

In an interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper after the 2023 Asian Games, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Hoang Dao Cuong admitted that although these goals were established, the implementation process has fallen short of expectations.

Lower targets in future strategy

As of August, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has yet to submit the Vietnam Sports Development Strategy to 2030, with a vision toward 2045, for government approval, despite the fact that the previous strategy, which extended to 2020, has already ended.

According to Tuoi Tre’s research, due to recent underwhelming achievements, the ministry had to adjust and lower some targets in the drafts of the Sports Development Strategy to 2030.

Specifically, the revised goals for 2030 include:

- Maintaining a top position in regional sports tournaments while gradually approaching Asian and global standards

- Aiming for five to seven gold medals at the 2026 Asian Games and seven to nine gold medals at the 2030 Asian Games

- Striving for medals at the 2024 and 2028 Olympics and Paralympics

- Achieving top-10 performance in Asian men’s football and a top-six spot in Asian women’s football

For the vision to 2045, Vietnamese sports aim to regularly rank in the top 15 Asian countries at the Asian Games and the top 50 at the Olympics, with men’s and women’s football in the top eight and top six in Asia, respectively.

Higher investments needed

Currently, Vietnamese sports have 22,000 talented athletes across provinces, cities, and national training centers. 

In 2023, the state budget allocated VND710 billion (US$28.25 million) for high-performance sports.

This funding, however, is considered insufficient, affecting various aspects such as athlete selection, training, and competition. 

For instance, while shooting, known as Vietnam’s most heavily invested sport, receives an annual budget of VND3.3 billion ($131,300), the actual need ranges from VND10 billion ($397,900) to VND12 billion ($477,500).

At the summary conference for the 2023 Asian Games held in December 2023, the sports industry expressed the need for an annual state investment of VND800 billion ($31.8 million) to VND850 billion ($33.8 million) for high-performance sports from 2024 to 2026. 

For the 2026-30 period, the required annual investment is VND850 billion to VND900 billion ($35.8 million). 

Part of this funding will be directed toward developing around 30 elite athletes capable of competing for gold medals at the Asian Games and Olympics in up to six sports.

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