Thailand, traditionally the regional leader in athletics, was the most successful nation, winning twenty-two gold medals and forty-one in total.

[2] Three new women's events were introduced at the 21st edition of the competition: pole vault, hammer throw, and the 20 km race walk.

[2] Many champions from the 1999 edition of the tournament retained their titles: Arumugam Munusamy (men's 1500 metres) and Supriati Sutono (women's 5000 metres) won their third straight SEA Games titles, Juthaporn Krasaeyan had her third consecutive women's shot put and discus throw double, Loo Kum Zee won his fourth men's high jump gold, James Wong Tuck Yim took a fifth title in the men's discus and Nur Herman Majid extended his unbeaten run in the 110 metres hurdles to six titles.

The Philippines' Eduardo Buenavista won the 5000 m and 3000 metres steeplechase (knocking fifteen seconds off the games record in the latter).

Pham Dinh Khanh Doan did a women's middle-distance double for Vietnam, while Indonesia's Supriyati Sutono improved the standards for the 5000 m and 10,000 metres, setting meet records in both.