Outstanding Vietnamese athletes, including swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, chess player, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, and sprinter, Vu Thi Huong, will receive extra rewards for their achievements at the 27th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 27) in Myanmar.

The 17-year-old female swimmer, Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, made one of the most impressive performances with three gold medals, two silvers and one bronze. Vien broke two SEA Games records.

As per SEA Games regulations, gold medal winners are awarded VND45 million (USD2,100), silver medal winners VND25 million and bronze medal winners VND20 million, while an athlete who sets a new record at the games will receive VND15 million (USD700). Nguyen Thi Anh Vien will be awarded a total of VND235 million.

Apart from these bonuses, athletes are also up for "on-the-spot" awards of VND6 million VND (285 USD) for a gold medals, VND4 million for a silver and VND 2 million for a bronze in individual events.

So Anh Vien racked up "on-the-spot" awards totaling VND 28 million.

The sprinter Vu Thi Huong, who won two gold medals in the women's 100m and 200m races and one silver in the women's 4x100m, will receive over VND100 million, while the chess player, Truong Son, who brought home two gold medals and one bronze will receive VND 124 million.

Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son

Many of these athletes can also look forward to more rewards from the provinces and cities from which they came.

The biggest reward, VND3.3 billion (USD158,700), will be given to members of the women’s football team for winning the silver medal.

This is a double reward for the team, to whom it was announced before the tournament that they would be given VND1.5 billion (USD72,100) for a silver medal and VND2 billion (USD96,200) for a gold.

According to the acting chairman of the Vietnam Football Federation, Le Hung Dung, the increase  for the women's team cash prize comes from the prize offered to the men’s team, who failed to advance to the semifinals. This money was withdrawn and added to the prize for the women’s team.

“The women’s team gave a really impressive performance and are worthy admiration,”  Dung confirmed. “That’s why we decided to double the prize for them, even though they did not successfully defend the championship title.”

The 27th SEA Games closed in Myanmar on December 22, after 11 days of competition. The Vietnamese delegation ranked third, with 73 gold medals, 86 silver and 86 bronze, surpassing their target of 70 gold medals.

On the other hand, the head of Vietnam's SEA Games delegation, Lam Quang Thanh, said in an interview with Thanh Nien on Sunday that, although the country's team reached it their goal for medals, the overall performance was still a bit of a disappointment.

"The Vietnamese athletes could actually have won up to 85 gold medals, but some judges appeared to be unfair in certain sports, while some Vietnamese athletes failed to show their best performance in others," Thanh said.