THE 2025 SEA Games in Thailand is likely to offer a record number of gold medals, with 585 events expected to be contested from Dec 9-20 in Bangkok, Chonburi and Songkhla.
Olympic Council of Malaysia (MOM) secretary-general Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin Najib said the organisers made several additions and changes to the events unexpectedly during a virtual meeting held last week.
“There was a discussion where the organisers informed us about the addition of events, name changes and weight category adjustments.
“As a result, the number of events has increased to 585 although the number of sports remains at 50. We hope this decision is final,” he told reporters after opening the Malaysia Kidslympic 2024 at Merdeka Stadium here today.
According to the new list, 11 events have been dropped, while 16 events have been added.
Among the newly listed events are the 20km race walk and the 3,000m steeplechase for both men and women, bringing the total number of gold medals up for grabs in athletics to 47.
Mohd Nazifuddin said the changes also involve sports such as gymnastics, canoeing, cycling, e-sports, pencak silat and judo.
According to the SEA Games Federation (SEAGF) charter, a minimum of four countries must participate for any sport/event to be contested at the biennial Games.
At the last edition in Cambodia, 580 events across 36 sports were contested, while the 2021 edition in Vietnam and the 2019 edition in the Philippines featured 523 events (40 sports) and 530 events (56 sports) respectively.
This is significantly higher than the 329 events from 39 sports at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Despite the 580 gold medals contested at the Cambodia SEA Games, Malaysia’s contingent recorded its worst performance in history, finishing in seventh place with 34 golds, 45 silvers and 97 bronzes, falling short of the target of 40 golds.
