Little-known story about Vietnamese female athlete who lost both parents but still won many records

Pham Thi Thu's glory was not only exchanged with sweat and effort but also with many tears. Her mother, brother and father passed away one after another, Thu lost her most beloved people.

Landing at Noi Bai airport, seeing the athletes in the delegation being welcomed by their families, shaking hands and congratulating each other, Pham Thi Thu could not help but feel sad. She quietly returned to her small house in Thai Duong commune (Binh Giang district, Hai Duong ) to place 5 medals (3 gold, 2 bronze) on the altar to celebrate with her parents and brother. Thu could not hold back her tears. She cried because she had accomplished what her parents had wished for when they were alive, and cried because her relatives were no longer there to share the joy of victory with her.

Pham Thi Thu at Noi Bai airport after returning from Cambodia (Photo: Tien Huy).

Few people know that behind the sparkling medals is the outstanding effort of the young female athlete to overcome the irony of adversity when her most beloved ones passed away one by one. Once wanted to quit diving because of family shock Pham Thi Thu was born in 2002 in a farming family in Hai Duong. Since childhood, Thu had an outstanding height. In 2012, when the staff of the Hai Duong Sports Training, Coaching and Competition Center visited the schools, they were extremely impressed by Thu's agility and height, so they recruited her into the province's swimming team. Thu's father, who loved sports , encouraged his daughter to join the training when he heard the news. On the contrary, her mother was somewhat worried. She was worried that her daughter would have a hard time and would be disadvantaged living away from her family too soon. In the end, the family still agreed to support Thu to join the swimming practice. Therefore, since grade 5, Thu transferred to the province's sports training center. The center is 30km from home, so Thu can only visit her parents once a week.

Female athletes at SEA Games 32 (Photo: NVCC).

At first, Thu missed home a lot. At that time, the 10-year-old girl could only rely on her teachers' words that "if you work hard, you will escape the life of having your hands and feet covered in mud, and if you compete well, you can help and show filial piety to your parents" as motivation to try hard. After practicing for about a year, Thu competed and won her first medal. After that, seeing that diving was more suitable for female athletes, the coaches transferred her to the diving team.

Overcoming all difficulties, the female athlete achieved many impressive achievements (Photo: NVCC).

In 2016, Thu's mother unfortunately passed away due to a serious illness. The shock of her first life left the young girl with no tears. Thu hesitated before the unclear path ahead and wondered "should I stop or continue?". At that time, every time she returned home and saw her father alone, Thu secretly wiped away her tears. "My mother passed away, my brother joined the army, and only my father was at home. I thought I should quit diving and go back to my hometown to work as a factory worker and take care of my father," Pham Thi Thu shared with Dan Tri . Knowing Thu's thoughts, her father encouraged his daughter to persevere on the path she had chosen. At the center, Mr. Pham Dang Khoa, Thu's coach, also wholeheartedly cared for and helped her overcome the difficult period.

Achievements of female athletes at SEA Games 32 (Photo: PT T).

The pain of losing her mother had just subsided when Thu heard that her brother had cancer. On the day she sent him off, Thu painfully wished she had more time to take care of her loved ones. Once again, the question "stop or continue" came back to her mind. At that time, her beloved father, coaches and friends were there to give Thu the motivation to continue. Feeling sorry for her father who was alone all day, Thu encouraged him to remarry so that she could feel secure every time she was away from home. She thought the bitterness would stop before her father's late home, but unexpectedly, not long after, her father also passed away due to a serious illness. Thu was completely devastated when her loved ones left her one by one. She was like a fish lost in cold water, with no one to cling to in life. Seeing Thu facing such great pain, the coaches and friends on the team were worried that she would quit. Having followed Thu closely for a long time, Mr. Khoa knew that she had great potential. If she stopped, all her efforts over the years would have been in vain. As for Thu, she blamed herself for not having much time with her family. She secretly wished that time could go back so that she could take better care of them. However, she no longer thought of giving up. In the following days, Thu threw herself into training to forget her sadness. Perhaps, when she was in the green race, the losses in her were less painful. Just like that, Thu gradually asserted herself and achieved impressive results in diving competitions in the country and the region.

Pham Thi Thu and her teammates won 3 gold medals for the Vietnamese sports delegation (Photo: NVCC).

No matter what, we still have to move forward. Accompanying Pham Thi Thu since she first joined the provincial team, teacher Pham Dang Khoa shared with Dan Tri : "Thu has a very disadvantaged situation, losing both her parents and brother. There were times when her spirit was very low." Loving his student, teacher Khoa was always there to share, pointing out Thu's outstanding strengths to help her gain more confidence. He also told Thu that, even though her parents and brother were no longer there to witness her victory, she still needed to move forward to fulfill her parents' wishes.

Female athlete Hai Duong shared that she will try to practice to contribute to the country's sports (Photo: NVCC).

Every time Thu shares about her sports journey, she avoids mentioning her family situation because she doesn’t want to receive pity from others. But perhaps it would be remiss to write about Thu’s success without mentioning the difficulties she had to go through during her ten-year-long training period. Thu’s glory was not only exchanged for sweat and effort but also for many tears. The young girl not only overcame the lack of material things, poor training conditions, and the health effects on her ears from being submerged in water all day, but also made an effort to face the ironic adversity, turning pain into motivation to try.

Thu's lovely everyday image (Photo: PT T).

Sharing about her life, Thu said that like other athletes in the province, she receives a monthly salary based on a coefficient. At present, Thu's salary is about 3.9 million VND. With that amount of money, Thu saves a part for herself, and sends a part back to support her mother and two younger siblings. Currently, after the 32nd SEA Games, Thu is taking a week off before returning to the center to continue training to prepare for the national youth swimming and diving championship. Thu tells herself that she needs to try very hard and she believes that no matter where she is, her loved ones will still accompany and cheer for her.

Young female athlete holds many records The Vietnamese Diving Team successfully concluded the 32nd SEA Games by winning 14 gold medals, far surpassing the following teams, thereby affirming its position as the number 1 team in the region. Contributing to that success, Hai Duong female athlete Pham Thi Thu won 3 gold medals and 2 bronze medals. The events Thu won gold medals this time were 4 times 100m women's air hose relay, with teammates Tran Phuong Nhi, Dang Thi Vuong, Pham Thi Thu, Cao Thi Duyen. The competition result was 2 minutes 43 seconds 56, breaking the SEA Games record. In addition, the events of 4 times 200m women's relay, 4 times 50m mixed mixed Thu also won gold medals. In the previous 31st SEA Games held in Vietnam, Thu won 2 gold medals and broke 2 national records. In addition to her achievements at the SEA Games, Thu also won many gold medals at the Asian Youth Diving Championship, the National Diving Championship... Currently, Pham Thi Thu owns 11 national records, an achievement that no other diver has been able to break. According to experts, she is one of the best divers in Vietnam in recent years.

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