Viet Nam's 199 athletes have won a total of 36 medals, including victories for the first time in several Olympic sports, at the 17^th Asian Games which concludes on October 4.

This year, the country brought home three more medals than it won four years ago in Guangzhou .

Of these medals, one was gold, won by Duong Thuy Vi in wushu's jianshu and qiangshu all-round.

However, the country was unable to achieve its pre-game goal of winning two to three golds.

There were seven fewer silvers than four years ago, but the Vietnamese increased its share of bronze medals from 15 to 25.

Besides medals from sports where the athletes have been historically strong, the Vietnamese won for the first time in a number of events. All the first-time medalists were from Olympic sports.

Talented gymnast Phan Thi Ha Thanh added more value to the medal collection by winning a silver in the women's beam competition and a bronze in the vault event.

Dinh Phuong Thanh and Dang Nam each won a bronze in the men's parallel bars and men's rings, respectively, to make the 17^th ASIAD the most successful for Viet Nam 's gymnastics.

Swimming was another history-making sport. It opened a new chapter for the country with two bronze medals won by teenager Nguyen Thi Anh Vien. The 17-year-old Can Tho City native, who also made history at the August Youth Olympics Games with a gold, recorded her best personal time to finish third in both women's 400m individual medley and 200m backstroke pools.

Athletics made a breakthrough with two new silver medallists.

Rising star Quach Thi Lan crossed the finish line in her favourite 400m event at a time of 52.06sec while Bui Thi Thu Thao had her best jump of 6.44m in the women's long jump.

Viet Nam also scored medals in fencing, thanks to Nguyen Tien Nhat, who won bronzes in the men's individual and team epee events.

Weightlifter Thach Kim Tuan left his mark by setting a new record of 134kg in the men's 56kg snatch category, but still missed out on a gold medal with a total lift of 294kg, 2kg away from the gold medallist.

(Source: VNA)