Vietnam Athletics expects new factors

At the recent Hong Kong (China) Open Athletics Tournament, Duong Thi Thao excellently brought the Vietnamese athletics team a gold medal in the high jump event.

What impressed experts about Thao was the achievement of 1.81 m that she achieved in this tournament, surpassing the achievement of the SEA Games 31 gold medal (1.78 m) and the SEA Games 32 gold medal (1.79 m). The coaching staff of the Vietnamese athletics team highly appreciated Thao's stable performance and achievements when at the Ho Chi Minh City Speed ​​Athletics Cup in April, she also achieved a result of 1.82 m.

Duong Thi Thao (middle) won gold medal at Hong Kong International Athletics Championship

PHOTO: NVCC

Before becoming a new factor in Vietnamese athletics, Thao also demonstrated her ability with a gold medal in high jump at the Asian School Games (June 2024) in Da Nang with a score of 1.74 m. At the National Athletics Championship (November 2024) in Dong Nai, Thao successfully conquered the 1.77 m mark, winning a bronze medal. After a short time, the athlete of the Hanoi unit continuously improved his performance, surpassing the impressive 1.8 m mark.

At present, Thao is still a member of the Vietnamese youth athletics team. She also has to compete for a ticket to the 33rd SEA Games with her seniors, and needs to ensure good results in the national championship (August) and the national youth tournament (October) to secure a ticket to the 33rd SEA Games. Therefore, the "high jump queen" born in 2006 expressed her high determination.

Vietnamese athletics used to be strong in the women's high jump category in both the region and the continent, with the peak being the gold medal at the 2003 Asian Championships by Bui Thi Nhung (with a score of 1.88 m). Exactly 20 years ago, at the 2005 Thailand International Athletics Championships, Nhung also made history by successfully conquering the 1.94 m bar. To date, no Vietnamese female high jumper has surpassed her senior's achievement.

With Duong Thi Thao’s current progress, experts expect her to reach even higher achievement milestones. Coach Vu Thi My Hanh, who directly trains Duong Thi Thao, said her student’s strengths are her carefulness, high concentration, and ability to adjust her speed during the run-up to have a good jump in the air.

Special investment in young talents like Duong Thi Thao and Tran Thi Nhi Yen needs to be promoted quickly. In particular, hiring quality experts for these talents has been mentioned many times but has not been implemented yet. Recently, at the Workshop to contribute ideas to the development project of Vietnam's athletics until 2030, with a vision to 2045, Mr. Hoang Quoc Vinh, Head of the High Performance Sports Department, Vietnam Sports and Physical Training Department, affirmed that the sports industry can pay at the highest level from 8,000 - 10,000 USD/month to hire good experts for training to achieve high results.

Having been given the "green light" and having resolved the funding issue, the remaining task is for the department and the Vietnam Athletics Federation to promote the search for the right experts with good expertise to help Vietnamese athletics talents take flight.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/dien-kinh-viet-nam-ky-vong-nhan-to-moi-185250515155310333.htm