The gap of Khanh Hoa athletics

Watching the 32nd SEA Games taking place in Cambodia, all Vietnamese people are happy because the country's sports are leading the medal tally. In the overall achievements of Vietnamese sports, there is a great contribution from track and field athletes, especially the efforts of the golden girls, such as: Nguyen Thi Oanh, Nguyen Thi Huyen... In the joy and pride of the success of Vietnamese sports, there is a bit of sadness when thinking about Khanh Hoa sports in general and Khanh Hoa track and field in particular.

Athlete Tran Nhat Hoang (right) and teammates celebrate the gold medal in the men's and women's 4 x 400m mixed event at the 32nd SEA Games. Photo: VNE

It is sad because in the past, in the late 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century, Khanh Hoa sports contributed many talented athletes to Vietnamese sports in the SEA Games arena, especially in athletics. Remember at the 20th SEA Games in 1999, female athlete Pham Dinh Khanh Doan won a gold medal in the 800m and a silver medal in the 1,500m. Two years later, at the 21st SEA Games in Malaysia, the runner from Khanh Hoa continued to compete brilliantly to win 2 gold medals in the 800m and 1,500m. The success of the girl from Agarwood created confidence for Vietnamese sports to invest in women's athletics, and then almost dominated the middle distance races at the Southeast Asian Games. Also at the 21st SEA Games, Khanh Hoa had female athlete Phan Thu Lan win a gold medal in the long jump.

In 2003, when the 22nd SEA Games was held in Vietnam, although no longer at the peak of her form, Khanh Doan continued to bring glory to the country when she won 2 silver medals in her favorite distances of 800m and 1,500m. Also at this congress, athlete Doan Nu Truc Van of Khanh Hoa excelled in surpassing the famous runner Supriati Sutono (Indonesia) - who had dominated the 10,000m race in Southeast Asia for many years to win the gold medal. Remember, the feat of the pepper girl (1.52m tall) from Ninh Sim commune (Ninh Hoa town) that year was highly praised by domestic and international press, because her opponent Supriati Sutono was not only an outstanding face of Southeast Asia, but also won the gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championship in 2000.

Returning to the 32nd SEA Games, up to now, in the athletics event, Khanh Hoa only has Tran Nhat Hoang winning a gold medal in the 4 x 400m mixed relay event (competing with athletes Nguyen Thi Hang, Tran Dinh Son and Nguyen Thi Huyen). On an individual basis, Nhat Hoang has improved compared to the 31st SEA Games (no medal) but is still far behind the 30th SEA Games in 2019 in the Philippines. Remember, when Tran Nhat Hoang first debuted in the Southeast Asian arena, he won 3 gold medals (men's 400m, two relay distances of 4 x 400m for men and 4 x 400m for men and women).

Although it is known that winning and losing in sports is normal; discovering and training excellent athletes also has the same fate as farmers on the same land, with the same rice variety, the same farming method, but some years have good harvests, some years have bad harvests. However, the fact that Khanh Hoa sports in general and athletics in particular have fewer and fewer athletes winning awards at international tournaments is something worth thinking about. Obviously, Tran Nhat Hoang alone cannot handle it all when compared to the achievements of previous generations and with the position of Khanh Hoa - one of the cradles of training leading athletics athletes in Vietnam. Why does Khanh Hoa have fewer and fewer excellent athletics athletes? Is it because Khanh Hoa people today have lost their passion for athletics, no longer want to follow the harsh path of professional sports? Or is it because the treatment for coaches and athletes, the training conditions of Khanh Hoa sports are increasingly lagging behind other localities? Perhaps only those involved have the most accurate answer!

THANH NGUYEN

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