For decades, athletics has always been ranked among the strong sports of Hai Duong province. With the right investment, this sport promises to achieve many successes in the near future.
A golden age
Not really as prominent as football, table tennis... but Hai Duong's athletics have also had and are having very impressive achievements. "From 2010 until now, Hai Duong athletics has always been in the top of the strongest provinces, cities and industries in the country. Every year at the National Athletics Championship, Hai Duong has athletes winning gold medals", Mr. Le Van Chuc, Head of Hai Duong Athletics Department, opened the story.
"Golden" is the phrase that Mr. Chuc mentioned when talking about the achievements that the Hai Duong athletics team has achieved over the past decades. Many athletes from Xu Dong have affirmed their names in tournaments both at home and abroad. The most notable is Nguyen Van Hue (born in 1989, in Chi Minh ward, Chi Linh).
At the 6th National Sports Festival in 2010, Nguyen Van Hue's name became known to many people when he won the gold medal in the decathlon. Notably, in 2015, at the 28th SEA Games held in Singapore, he continued to win the gold medal in the decathlon. In 2018, at the age of 29, this athlete still won the gold medal at the National Athletics Championship and also broke the record of the 8th National Sports Festival with a pole of 4m92. "To date, no athlete in Vietnam has broken this record of Hue," Mr. Chuc said proudly about his student.
In addition to athlete Nguyen Van Hue, Hai Duong athletics also has a number of notable athletes with names such as Le Van Han, Tran Thi Mai, Hoang Thi Trang...
At the 2018 National Sports Festival, athlete Le Van Han won a gold medal in the decathlon and a silver medal in the pole vault. A year later, he continued to win a silver medal in the decathlon at the National Athletics Championship. This impressive series of achievements helped Mr. Han be included in the national athletics team participating in the 30th SEA Games. At the 2022 National Sports Festival, Mr. Han won a gold medal in the pole vault.
Soy saucefuture promise
Despite maintaining an impressive streak of achievements for a long time, Hai Duong athletics is not "satisfied with itself". Activities to select and train the next generation of athletes are continuously organized by the Provincial Sports Training, Coaching and Competition Center.
The province's attention to treatment and gradually improving training and competition conditions has helped athletics not only continue to affirm its position but also open up a brighter future.
Talented athletes from Hai Duong continue to emerge. A typical example is athlete Hoang Thi Ngoc Anh. In 2020, this petite athlete joined the Hai Duong youth athletics team. Just 2 years later, Ngoc Anh has excelled in achieving achievements that many athletes of the same age dream of. These are gold, silver and bronze medals at the national youth athletics championships held in Kon Tum and Ho Chi Minh City. In the same year, at the 9th National Sports Festival, Ngoc Anh finished fourth in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 11 minutes and 23 seconds and achieved the level of national master.
2024 was also a successful year for Ngoc Anh when she won the gold medal in the women's 3,000m event at the 13th Southeast Asian School Games. This was the first gold medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation at the largest multi-sport event in the region for student athletes.
According to the plan, from January 2025, Ngoc Anh will be called up to the national athletics team, becoming a teammate of "athletics queen" Nguyen Thi Oanh. "Sister Oanh is my idol. Before becoming a professional athlete, my mother and I went to Hanoi many times to watch her compete. I will make efforts and determination to strive to become an athlete who contributes a lot to the country's sports like Sister Oanh", Ngoc Anh shared.
Hai Duong currently has 3 other names in the national youth athletics team: Pham Thi Hai Yen (born in 2008), Truong Dinh Khuong (born in 2008), Pham Trong Duong (born in 2009). Although still young, these 3 athletes have achieved many impressive results in youth competitions.
Coach Le Van Chuc said that Hai Duong has enough players to register for all events at the national athletics tournament - something that has not been possible in many years. "Hai Duong athletics has a promising young athlete force. Compared to the previous period, the current generation of athletes is more promising. A bright future is still waiting for Hai Duong athletics ahead," Mr. Chuc said excitedly.
In 2024, Hai Duong athletics won 1 gold medal at the National Athletics Championship, 1 gold medal and 2 bronze medals at the National Youth Athletics Championship, 1 gold medal at the Tien Phong Newspaper marathon long distance, 1 gold medal at the National Youth Athletics Championship.
Hai Duong Athletics also won 2 gold medals at several international tournaments.