The journey to the SEA Games gold medal of the H'Re boy

Quang Ngai Dinh Van Bi, 21 years old, a wushu gold medalist at the 32nd SEA Games in the 70kg category, has been away from home since finishing 9th grade.

Mr. Dinh Van Nhoat cried when he put his arm around his son's shoulder and brought the gold medal home on the afternoon of May 14. Photo: Pham Linh

Bi is the eldest of two sons in a poor family in Minh Long district, one of the most difficult highland districts in Quang Ngai province. His parents' main income comes from peeling acacia bark, earning 200,000 - 300,000 VND per day. The family lives in a traditional stilt house according to the customs of the H'Re people.

Due to difficult conditions, Bi did not have outstanding academic achievements, but in return, he had an outstanding appearance, a handsome face with a height and physique that surpassed his peers. Bi was often selected for sports teams to compete in school and district level tournaments... with events such as tug of war, pole pushing, and athletics.

When Bi was in 9th grade, Coach Pham Quoc Anh (currently the head coach of the national and youth Wushu teams, Quang Ngai Province Sports Training and Competition Center) who was then the youth team coach at the Da Nang National Sports Training Center often contacted physical education teachers at high schools to find training sources. "My criteria are handsome, strong, and poor family, because only then will I have enough will to pursue a sport that requires hard training like wushu," said Mr. Quoc Anh.

From a Hre ethnic boy to a SEA Games Wushu Gold Medalist

At that time, teenager Dinh Van Bi, along with some other classmates in the school, was recommended by the school's physical education teacher. And immediately caught the eye of coach Quoc Anh.

For Bi, sports are his talent and passion, but being chosen to compete professionally is still an unexpected turning point. His decision depends on the support of his parents. At that time, Coach Quoc Anh came to his house to persuade him. When the coach promised to ensure accommodation, training and cultural education for Bi so that when he graduated from high school, his parents agreed to let him pursue a career in sports.

In 2018, Bi left his hometown of Minh Long district to study at the National Sports Training Center 3 in Da Nang, under the direct guidance of his first teacher Pham Quoc Anh. Here, Bi got used to a more disciplined lifestyle than before. Bi shared that his diet had to reduce starch, add more beef, vegetables, and fruits of all kinds. In addition, he had to drink a lot of water and rest properly in between training, especially sleeping on time.

The 16-year-old boy often felt sad at first because he missed his parents, younger brother and friends back home. "At those times, I often listened to music or made phone calls and videos home to distract myself," the young boxer recalled. To overcome this, Bi thought about his older brothers who had achieved achievements and medals in domestic and international tournaments, using that as motivation to overcome himself.

Coach Quoc Anh said that the young wushu players he has trained are all disciplined and diligent, but Bi has a special talent for strength. At first, Bi's legs were a bit weak for competitive matches, but he has gradually improved.

What surprised Coach Quoc Anh the most was that after less than a year of training, Bi won a silver medal at the 2018 national youth tournament. In 2019, after two years of wushu training, Bi continued to win a silver medal at the national youth tournament and a gold medal at the national cup championship. From the first gold medal milestone, Bi caught the eye of the national Wushu team coach. However, realizing that his student needed time to improve, the youth team coach kept Bi for another year before letting him move to Hanoi to join the national team to train and compete. Here, he was encouraged, helped and motivated by Pham Cong Minh and Nguyen Trung Thien - a famous martial artist from Quang Ngai.

Dinh Van Bi practices with the national team. Photo: Pham Linh

At the national team, Bi has three training shifts every day. The first shift is from 5am to 7am, then he goes home to rest and have breakfast, then the second shift is from 9am to 11am. The third shift is in the afternoon from 3pm to 5pm. In the evening, Bi takes time to rest.

Adhering to discipline and determination to practice, in 2020 alone, Bi achieved three achievements: bronze medal at the national championship, gold medal at the national youth championship, and silver medal at the national cup championship. After the 2021 interruption due to Covid-19, in 2022, the male boxer won a gold medal at the national cup championship and a bronze medal at the national sports festival.

Before the 32nd SEA Games, Bi and the wushu team members were in a camp since April, practicing 4-5 hours a day, with exercises to increase strength, leg speed, and physical fitness... Before the competition day, Bi was not only encouraged by the coaches, but also personally flew to Hanoi to visit and give gifts of encouragement by Mr. Nguyen Lien Phuong - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Ngai.

In Cambodia, Bi met his first opponent from Malaysia on May 11. After two rounds, he easily defeated his opponent to enter the final match against a Cambodian boxer. Bi said that to defeat this opponent, he used his back foot technique, "out" punches, pushed the ring, and did not fight based on points to have the most convincing chance of defeating his opponent. Having achieved this result, Bi was speechless, not knowing what to say other than thanking his coach and teammates.

Dinh Van Bi and coach Quoc Anh in a stilt house in Minh Long district, Quang Ngai. Photo: Pham Linh

After returning to Hanoi on May 14, Bi booked a connecting flight to return home as soon as possible. Meeting Bi at the airport, Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung - Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism - said: "Bi has brought happiness to herself, her family, her hometown Quang Ngai and the country". He encouraged Bi to continue trying to bring back more achievements in the future.

The convertible took Bi home on a rainy afternoon, but everyone who picked him up was happy. When they arrived about 3 km from his house, many people recognized Bi and waved goodbye. When they arrived, dozens of relatives and neighbors were waiting, and his family had put up a nylon tarp to protect him from the rain to celebrate his triumphant return. Bi was the first athlete from Quang Ngai to win a gold medal after 10 years since the barefoot queen Pham Thi Binh achieved the same result in athletics at the 27th SEA Games.

As soon as he got out of the car, Mr. Dinh Van Nhoat - Bi's father put his arm around his son's shoulder and cried silently. Mr. Nhoat said that his family was poor, and over the years his son often saved his salary to send home to help his parents.

Returning to the familiar stilt house, Bi was shy when asked about his dream. He said his immediate goal was to practice hard to achieve better results in the future.

At the 32nd SEA Games, Vietnam's wushu team ranked second overall with 6 gold medals, 3 silver medals and 2 bronze medals. Indonesia ranked first and was only 3 silver medals ahead of Vietnam.

Pham Linh

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