Defeating Le Thi Tuyet, Hoang Thi Ngoc Hoa won the 2024 national marathon

On the morning of March 31, the National Marathon and Long Distance Championship was held.VanguardThe 65th edition of the 2024 Marathon National Championship took place in Phu Yen province. This is the only national marathon championship organized by the Department of Sports and Physical Training, the Vietnam Athletics Federation and related units in the year for long-distance and marathon athletes.

The tournament was attended by nearly 12,000 professional and amateur athletes, including all the top athletes of the Vietnam athletics team. The athletes competed in the following distances: 5km, 10km, 21km, 42.195km (marathon).

A surprise happened on the women's marathon track when athlete Hoang Thi Ngoc Hoa (Binh Phuoc) defeated Le Thi Tuyet (Phu Yen) to win the championship. Ngoc Hoa's result was 2 hours 51 minutes 35 seconds. Meanwhile, Le Thi Tuyet came in second with 2 hours 51 minutes 53 seconds.

The interesting competition between two of Vietnam's top marathoners has attracted a lot of attention from the community. The reason is that Le Thi Tuyet is the reigning national marathon champion in 2023 with a time of 2 hours 54 minutes 33 seconds. 2023 also marked her first silver medal in the SEA Games 32 marathon with a time of 2 hours 49 minutes 21 seconds.

Meanwhile, at the Asian Marathon Championship on January 21, Ngoc Hoa finished with a time of 2 hours 44 minutes 52 seconds. With this achievement, Hoa also broke the national women's marathon record (set by athlete Hoang Thi Thanh in 2016 with a time of 2 hours 45 minutes 09 seconds).

Ngoc Hoa's defeat of Le Thi Tuyet was considered an interesting event of this year's National Marathon Championship. After reaching the finish line, both athletes had to be carried on stretchers to receive medical assistance.

Talk toTuoi Tre OnlineCoach Nguyen Tuan Anh (Le Thi Tuyet's teacher) said that Tuyet had to be hospitalized right after finishing the race. The reason was because she had severe stomach pain in the last kilometers of the race. Fortunately, after being examined, she did not have any serious problems and was discharged from the hospital. This was also the reason why Tuyet could not defend her national championship title.

Meanwhile, there were no surprises in the men's marathon race when athlete Hoang Nguyen Thanh (Binh Phuoc) won the men's championship with a time of 2 hours 26 minutes 05 seconds. To defend the championship, Thanh defeated his senior Nguyen Van Lai (Military), who came in second with a time of 2 hours 27 minutes 10 seconds.

Hoang Nguyen Thanh is the 2023 national marathon champion, the 31st SEA Games marathon champion and currently holds the national marathon record with a time of 2 hours 18 minutes 43. He set this record on January 21, 2024 at the Asian Marathon Championship held in Hong Kong. With that achievement, he broke the 21-year-old national record in the marathon.

Due to the hot weather in Phu Yen on March 31, despite winning gold medals, the national marathon champions did not have good technical parameters. Their results were far below their current records and personal achievements.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Nguyen - Athletics Department (Department of Sports and Physical Training) - said that the fierce competition between Ngoc Hoa and Le Thi Tuyet makes the 2024 National Marathon Championship more attractive. Ngoc Hoa is in good form after the 2024 Asian Championship and this year's national gold medal is very encouraging for her.