Le Tu Chinh returns

Only participating in the tournament to test her performance, the return of former "Southeast Asian speed queen" Le Tu Chinh at the Thong Nhat Speed ​​Cup athletics tournament is still awaited.

One of the most exciting events of the 2025 Unified Speed ​​Cup is the women's 100m, where young talent Tran Thi Nhi Yen, reigning national champion Ha Thi Thu, former athlete Le Tu Chinh and other notable faces such as Hoang Du Y, Phung Thi Hue, Luu Kim Phung... compete.

Get back to your old form

It took nearly a year since returning from the 2024 Paris Olympics for the new "speed queen" of Vietnamese athletics, Tran Thi Nhi Yen, to return to competition. Injury caused this young talent to miss the 2024 National Athletics Championship and she chose the 2025 Unified Speed ​​Cup to return after fully recovering.

Meanwhile, Le Tu Chinh, since leaving Ho Chi Minh City to join the new unit Ca Mau , has not yet met the requirements to compete for the new unit, so she can only participate in the Unified Speed ​​Cup to test her performance instead of being ranked for a medal.

Hoang Du Y (509), Tran Thi Nhi Yen (299) and Le Tu Chinh (158) on the women's 100m race. (Photo: DONG LINH)

The competition between past and present stars in the women's 100m race seemed to have been decided right from the qualifying round. While the reigning national champion Ha Thi Thu (HCMC) finished first in the second heat thanks to having to "cut off" Phung Thi Hue, in the first heat, Tu Chinh finished behind both Nhi Yen and Hoang Du Y.

The achievement of only being in the top 5 (11 seconds 98) is not surprising for Tu Chinh because she is still in the recovery phase after knee surgery and is taking advantage of the time she cannot compete officially (2 years) to regain her old form. Although she joined Ca Mau, she is still allowed to stay in Ho Chi Minh City to practice. Perhaps what this former player needs now is a coach who is capable of helping her return to the top when her desire to compete and win is still very strong.

Opportunity to gain experience

Held on April 16 and 17, the 2025 Thong Nhat Speed ​​Cup Athletics Tournament will feature nearly 500 athletes from 38 provincial, municipal and industry units, along with over 100 athletes from districts in Ho Chi Minh City. The tournament will be organized in two categories, including 32 events for the team category and 4 age groups for the youth category.

The presence of famous faces such as Tran Thi Nhi Yen, Ha Thi Thu, Le Tu Chinh (women's 100m), Quach Thi Lan (women's 400m), Huynh Thi My Tien (women's 100m hurdles), Tran Dinh Son (men's 400m) and the relay teams 4 x 100m, 4 x 200m, 4 x 400m... helped the tournament receive the attention of many fans.

According to experts, most of the players are in the preparation stage, accumulating physical strength, so it is difficult to compete with 100% of their strength, so it is difficult to ask them to have high performance parameters at this time. Therefore, it is difficult to hope for a record in this tournament, although everyone is looking forward to this, especially the organizers. However, for the young players, the tournament is an opportunity to compete, accumulate experience, and prepare for the National Youth Athletics Championship in June in Lai Chau .

The tournament is also considered an opportunity for coaches to evaluate the training process of the athletes in order to prepare training plans for the next stage. This year, the Vietnamese athletics team will focus on two important events: the Asian Championship (May) and the 33rd SEA Games (December).

Source: https://nld.com.vn/le-tu-chinh-tai-xuat-19625041621515245.htm