Olympic gold medalists to vie for SEA Games in Vietnam

Six years ago at the Rio Olympics, Schooling shocked the world when he defeated the legendary Michael Phelps to win the historic 100-meter butterfly gold medal and become the first Southeast Asian swimmer to palm an Olympic swimming gold.

Across five SEA Games event, Schooling has won 27 gold medals for Singapore.

Besides Schooling, other Olympic gold medalists will also participate in SEA Games 31, including Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, who clinched gold in 2020 Tokyo Olympics. That proved to be the very first Olympic gold medal for the Philippines. At SEA Games 31, Diaz is expected to win gold in the women’s 55 kilogram event.

Singapore's rising badminton star Loh Kean Yew also wants to conquer SEA Games 31 since it’s the only title missing from his collection. Last year, Loh became the new global badminton star after he won the world championship. In the badminton doubles event, the Indonesian duo Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu are expected to claim gold.

In Taekwondo, Olympic gold medalist Panipak Wongpattanakit will represent Thailand in SEA Games 31 ainthe women’s 49 kilogram category. She’s a heavy contender for the gold medal this year.

SEA Games 31 will be hosted in Vietnam from May 12 to 23, with 40 sports and 526 categories in 11 provinces and cities.