2003 SEA Games

XXII Southeast Asian Games

Host city	Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Motto	Solidarity, Cooperation for Peace and Development
Nations	11
Debuting countries	Timor Leste
Athletes	5000
Events	442 in 32 sports
Opening	5 December 2003
Closing	13 December 2003
Opened by	Phan Văn Khải Prime Minister of Vietnam
Athlete's Oath	Nguyễn Mạnh Tường
Judge's Oath	Hoàng Quốc Vinh
Torch lighter	Nguyễn Thúy Hiền
Ceremony venue	Mỹ Đình National Stadium
Website	2003 Southeast Asian Games
← Kuala Lumpur 2001 Manila 2005 →

The 2003 Southeast Asian Games (Vietnamese: Đại hội Thể thao Đông Nam Á 2003), officially known as the 22nd Southeast Asian Games, SEA Games 22 and also known as Vietnam 2003, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held from 5 to 13 December 2003 in Hanoi, Vietnam. This was the first time that Vietnam had staged the SEA Games, and it saw East Timor, which had just gained independence in 2002; although not being an ASEAN member and despite its geographical location closer to the Pacific archipelago than the Asian continent, making its debut at the games.^[1]

The games was held from 5 to 13 December 2003, although several events had commenced from 29 November 2003. Around 5,000 athletes from 11 participating nations participated at the games, which featured 442 events in 32 sports. Vietnam is the eighth nation to host the Southeast Asian Games after Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Brunei. The games was opened by Phan Văn Khải, the Prime Minister of Vietnam at the newly constructed Mỹ Đình National Stadium and was closed by Pham Gia Khiem, the Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam.

The final medal tally was led by host Vietnam, followed by Thailand and Indonesia. A number of records in Games and National level were broken during this edition. The games were deemed generally successful with the rising standard of competition amongst the participating nations.