Finding a path forward for athletics.

Achievements are for immediate gratification.

Just before this conference, Vietnamese athletics received good news when athlete Mai Ngoc Anh won the silver medal in the women's high jump at the Asian U18 Athletics Championships held in Saudi Arabia. The female athlete from the People's Police Sports team was truly a surprise factor in the Vietnamese athletics team at the competition, demonstrating her prowess and winning an unexpected silver medal. As the head of the Vietnamese athletics team at this competition – Mr. Nguyen Duc Nguyen – noted, to achieve this success, Mai Ngoc Anh received systematic investment and training from the People's Police Sports team. From there, she has had stable development, and the silver medal at the recent Asian U18 Championships clearly reflects that.

dien-kinh.jpg -0 — Athlete Mai Ngoc Anh (right) won a silver medal at the 2025 Asian U18 Athletics Championships. Photo: Duc Nguyen.

However, the joy of this silver medal is only a short-term concern. In the long term, enabling young athletes like Mai Ngoc Anh to reach continental levels is another story. For example, in the high jump, Mai Ngoc Anh, despite being 1.71m tall – quite ideal for Vietnamese athletes and those in Southeast Asia – is still far from sufficient to continue asserting her skills at the Asian level. The Chinese athlete who won the gold medal in the women's high jump at the recent Asian U18 Athletics Championships was already 1.81m tall. Not to mention athletes from the Middle East and Central Asia, who also have better physiques. With their physical advantages and well-developed techniques, it's normal for them to lose at the youth level but excel when competing at the national team level.

And to be able to compete on equal footing, a scientific diet and training regimen is still needed so that athletes like Mai Ngoc Anh and other Vietnamese track and field athletes can improve their physique and fitness to reach Asian levels instead of being content with competing for gold medals at the Southeast Asian level. This is also an issue for Vietnamese track and field, which is expected to be discussed at the workshop on the Project for the Development of Track and Field until 2030, with a vision to 2045.

It should also be mentioned that the above project has been in development for a long time. Initially, the managers developed it as a Strategy, but it was later adjusted to a Project. Although the scale and scope have been reduced, it remains truly important for the development of athletics, a sport considered a priority for Vietnamese sports, which brought home a gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games.

We still have to rely on socialization.

Currently, Vietnamese athletics is witnessing a strong development in terms of its grassroots movement, most notably the proliferation of running events with thousands of participants being commonplace. However, at the highest level, Vietnamese athletics is facing a decline, especially in the Asian Games and the Olympics.

Currently, the possibility of directly qualifying for the 2028 Olympics is considered beyond the reach of the current generation of athletes. This also means that winning a medal at this event is virtually impossible for at least one to two Olympic cycles (4-8 years). Even winning a gold medal at the Asian Games is unlikely. The women's 4x400m relay team, which once won the Asian Championships, only finished in the bronze medal group at the Asian Games, where participating teams fielded their strongest teams. Young athletes like Nguyen Khanh Linh ( from Ha Nam , who won gold medals in the women's 1500m at the 2022 and 2023 Asian Junior Athletics Championships) or the newly crowned Asian U18 high jump champion Mai Ngoc Anh are still considered promising talents, requiring more favorable conditions for further development.

And certainly, we cannot rush or skip stages like in the case of runner Le Thi Tuyet (Phu Yen), who was suited for the 10,000m event but was hastily transferred to the marathon. Before she had accumulated enough experience to compete in the marathon (usually for athletes around 23 years old and above), the girl from Phu Yen suffered an injury and is currently undergoing treatment, simultaneously leaving her participation in top-level competitions uncertain.

Of course, the story related to the Athletics Development Plan until 2030, with a vision to 2045, is not purely about professional matters but also about greater financial autonomy for the Vietnam Athletics Federation itself. This would share the financial burden with the Vietnam Department of Sports and Physical Education and local authorities. For a long time, the Vietnam Athletics Federation has hoped that the Vietnam Department of Sports and Physical Education and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism would create a mechanism to utilize some of the facilities at the My Dinh National Sports Complex to provide the best training grounds for Vietnamese athletics athletes, as well as for other purposes to support Vietnamese athletes.

Another option is to invest in a training center for Vietnamese track and field athletes in Hanoi. However, the financial problem is that the Federation itself has yet to solve it. Certainly, it's impossible to rely on the state budget for such projects; it must come from the Federation's ability to attract socialized resources.

Furthermore, even finding additional sponsors for athletics competitions within the national competition system is proving difficult, in contrast to many semi-amateur, semi-elite athletics events, which is another issue of concern. This is also a problem that needs to be addressed at the upcoming conference.

All of this shows that athletics still needs a more consistent and open path than it currently has to create new milestones and stable development. A conference may not solve all problems, but it is still expected to clarify the path forward. The key issue remains the people implementing that path.

Hopes to overthrow Thai athletics.
At this time, although not openly stated, many Vietnamese athletics experts still harbor the hope of surpassing Thailand's athletics team at the 33rd SEA Games held in Thailand. To achieve this goal, the Vietnamese athletics team needs to win at least 14 gold medals.
Minh Khue

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/tim-loi-di-cho-dien-kinh-i766126/