Young athletes prove potential, running team gains support for Olympics bid

Lê Thị Tuyết Mai of Việt Nam (centre) wins the women’s 800m title at the 15th SEA Youth Athletics Championship in Thailand. Mai is one of Viêt Nam’s talented athletes and is considered a national sports ‘treasure’. VNS Photo Đức Nguyên

HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Athletics Federation (VAF) was confident its talented young athletes could shoulder heavy missions in the future, while senior competitors would receive strong support for their Paris Olympics task.

Vietnamese team finished at the top of the 15th SEA Youth Athletics Championship, which closed last week in Thailand.

The youngsters won 15 golds, 11 silvers and five bronzes, setting five new records at the Pathum Thani event.

“All Vietnamese athletes at the tournament were Việt Nam’s best in the youth groups. We took part in the regional championship to check their technique while gaining basic information about rivals from other countries,” said coach Nguyễn Đức Nguyên.

“Through the championship, we would make further plans for each athlete, for their strong development in the future,” he said.

Among the champions were Nguyễn Thị Kim Thanh who took gold and claimed a record (2:12.99) in the women’s 800m; Nguyễn Hoàng Thịnh who won gold and a record (8:59.04) in the men’s 3,000m; Đinh Thành Nhân who secured gold and a record (59.49m) in the men’s hammer throw; and Lê Thị Tuyết Mai who won double titles in the women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

Although having only a silver medal in the women’s high jump event, Dương Thị Thảo was still a golden hope for Việt Nam.

The 17-year-old promised to replace her senior teammate soon after earning her remarkable result at the national championship, which was better than the 31st SEA Games gold and 32nd SEA Games silver results of her senior Nguyễn Thị Diễm.

“Thảo is a young star in our team. If she can maintain her current performance and practise well, she will go far in her career,” said Nguyên.

“They are strongly developing and predicted to get high results in the major tournaments. They are truly ‘treasures’ of Việt Nam’s athletics,” Nguyên said.

Nguyên also praised runner Mai’s progress after her results locally and regionally.

In October, the national youth 400m champion won bronze in the 400m hurdle and fifth place in the National Athletics Championship. In the upcoming editions, she is expected to replace SEA Games title winner Nguyễn Thị Huyền.

According to the VAF General Secretary Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng the Việt Nam’s women’s 400m and 400m hurdles team with Nguyễn Thị Hằng, Hoàng Thị Minh Hạnh, Nguyễn Thị Ngọc, Quách Thị Lan, Hoàng Thị Ánh Thục and Lê Thị Tuyết Mai are currently the strongest team in the region.

The 32-strong contingent of Việt Nam at the 15th SEA Youth Athletics Championship in Thailand. — VNS Photo Đức Nguyên

They would receive strong support in 2024 and 2025 so that they could achieve better results internationally.

Hùng added that VAF’s first action would be hiring a foreign expert to work with the team in the next few weeks.

“VAF is working with different groups of athletics teams. We review our performance at the recent tournaments such as the 32nd SEA Games and the 19th Asian Games (ASIAD), and will definitely make changes to push the development of our athletics,” said Hùng.

He said 2024 will be a year of preparation for the 33rd SEA Games in 2025 and the 20th ASIAD in 2026. Việt Nam also seeks an official place at the Paris Games in July. 

“We expect that the women’s 4x400m team, which are Asian champions, will qualify for Paris. This is the most potential event of Việt Nam so we will make the best plan for them,” said Hùng, revealing that a Ukrainian trainer would arrive to work with them.

“He is a high-quality and experienced coach. He worked with the Indian team before coming to Việt Nam. We talked with him and wait to see him here soon.”

In 2024, the team will have several international tournaments where they can collect points for world rankings.

They will have to be in the top 16 teams to receive their place in Paris.

In history, Việt Nam had several individuals qualified for the Olympics, but no teams yet. VNS