Motto Kini Saatnya Events 24 sports Closing ceremony 31 August 1989 | Nations participating 9 Opening ceremony 20 August 1989 | |
Officially opened by Sultan Azlan Shah
Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia | ||
The 1989 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 15th Southeast Asian Games, was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 20 - 31 August 1989 with 24 sports and disciplines featured in the games. It was officially opened by 9th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Azlan Shah. Although Cambodia did not participate, Laos returned to compete for the first time under the new federation name in this edition of the games. A unified Vietnam first participated in the SEA Games in 1989 as well. The closing ceremony of this multi-sports events coincides with the 32nd anniversary of Malaysia's Independence.
It was the fourth time Malaysia host the games, and its first time since 1977. Malaysia is the third nation to host the games after Thailand and Myanmar and before Indonesia and Philippines.
The final medal tally was led by Indonesia, followed by host Malaysia and Thailand. Several World, Asian, Games and National Records were broken during the games. Filipino Swimmer Eric Buhain was named as the Athlete of the Games. With little or no controversies at all, the games were deemed generally successful with the rising standard of competition amongst the Southeast Asian nations.
Medal table
A total of 957 medals, comprising 303 Gold medals, 302 Silver medals and 352 Bronze medals were awarded to athletes. The host Malaysia's performance was their best ever yet in Southeast Asian Games History and were placed only second to Thailand as overall champion.
* Host nation (Malaysia)