It can be said that Vu Thi Huong remains the best short-distance runner in Vietnamese athletics history. Although she retired a long time ago, her national record in the 100m race, with a time of 11.33 seconds, has yet to be broken.
Following in the footsteps of her predecessors in the most exciting short-distance events in athletics, Le Tu Chinh made her debut at the 2017 SEA Games, leaving a strong impression with a double gold medal win in the 100m and 200m races. In 2019, the runner from Ho Chi Minh City successfully defended her title as the Southeast Asian speed queen by finishing first in the 100m race. However, she has yet to achieve a breakthrough in performance and her career stalled after suffering an injury.
In the last two years, Vietnamese athletics has seen the emergence of a promising runner born in 2005, Tran Thi Nhi Yen. In a short time, she has achieved better performance times than Tu Chinh. Making her debut at the 32nd SEA Games (2023), Nhi Yen won a silver medal in the 200m and a bronze medal in the 100m. She is expected to follow in the footsteps of her predecessors Vu Thi Huong and Le Tu Chinh, helping Vietnamese athletics maintain its leading position in sprint events.
Tran Thi Nhi Yen (right) strives to follow in the footsteps of her predecessors.
PHOTO: GIA KHANG
At the Thong Nhat Speed Cup athletics competition held on April 16-17 at District 8 Stadium (Ho Chi Minh City), Nhi Yen won the gold medal in the 100m and the silver medal in the 200m. She had just returned from injury and hadn't yet achieved her best results. However, according to coaches, without proper investment, Nhi Yen risks stagnating, as her early season performance in the 100m was only 11.81 seconds (qualifying round) and 11.85 seconds (final), which is not satisfactory. Even more worrying is that in short-distance events, besides Nhi Yen, other athletes like Ha Thi Thu and Phung Thi Hue also had low performance times below par.
Why hasn't Vietnamese athletics been able to make a breakthrough?
In an interview yesterday, April 17th, Mr. Duong Duc Thuy, former Head of the Vietnamese Athletics Department, stated: "We need to face the reality of Vietnamese athletics right now: a severe lack of standard facilities for training and competition. Athletics training grounds in My Dinh, the National Training Center in Hanoi , the National Training Center in Ho Chi Minh City, Thong Nhat Stadium, etc., are dilapidated and damaged. This situation is also occurring in most localities. Therefore, how can we achieve good training results when the basic element, the infrastructure, is not guaranteed? Not to mention that in many places, training equipment is outdated but not being replaced or repaired. Digitalization in the management and training of athletics in this technological age is still only on paper."
One of the reasons why Vietnamese athletics struggles to find talent in short-distance events is the current scarcity of competitions for athletes in this category. "In Vietnam, track and field athletes in middle and long-distance events participate in national competitions almost monthly, with open tournaments in various provinces and cities. Meanwhile, short-distance events, which are played indoors, have very few competitions throughout the year. Fortunately, besides the national championships and the national relay championships, Ho Chi Minh City also has the Thong Nhat Speed Cup athletics competition. This is a valuable opportunity for short-distance athletes to compete, gain experience, and test their performance," said Mr. Duong Duc Thuy.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/do-mat-tim-nu-hoang-toc-do-dien-kinh-viet-nam-185250417194623254.htm
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