70-year-old woman with white hair races dragon boat, many opponents give up

Cụ bà 70 tóc bạc trắng đua thuyền rồng, hàng loạt đối thủ chào thua - 1

On the morning of February 17, Huong Son district (Ha Tinh) opened the 5th Hai Thuong Lan Ong Festival - boat racing on Ngan Pho river in 2024.

Cụ bà 70 tóc bạc trắng đua thuyền rồng, hàng loạt đối thủ chào thua - 2

There are 32 teams participating in the competition (23 men's teams and 9 women's teams), divided into 16 pairs. Of these, there are 11 men's pairs, 4 women's pairs and 1 mixed pair competing in a timed format. The team that completes the race in the fastest time without violating any rules will win.

Cụ bà 70 tóc bạc trắng đua thuyền rồng, hàng loạt đối thủ chào thua - 3

23 men's teams and 9 women's teams represent communes in Huong Son district. Each team has 13 athletes, they have to go through a race with a distance of 1km.

Cụ bà 70 tóc bạc trắng đua thuyền rồng, hàng loạt đối thủ chào thua - 4

The men's team with the fastest time will advance to the finals, and the women's team with the fastest time will win the championship.

Cụ bà 70 tóc bạc trắng đua thuyền rồng, hàng loạt đối thủ chào thua - 5

The dramatic and suspenseful competition between two female teams representing two communes Son Kim 1 and Son Kim 2.

With favorable weather, the boat racing festival attracted thousands of people gathering on both sides of the river to cheer on the teams.

Cụ bà 70 tóc bạc trắng đua thuyền rồng, hàng loạt đối thủ chào thua - 9

Among the participating women's teams, the Pho Chau town women's team attracted attention because it had the oldest athlete in the tournament. That was Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nga. She is 64 years old this year but her health is still strong. In this race, Mrs. Nga has the task of "steering" the team. This is a very important task to help the boat go in the right direction and turn the steering wheel as quickly as possible to circle back to the finish line. In Huong Son district, Mrs. Nga is famous for her talent in steering dragon boat races.

Cụ bà 70 tóc bạc trắng đua thuyền rồng, hàng loạt đối thủ chào thua - 10

Ms. Nga used to join the district dragon boat racing team to compete in the provincial tournament and won the championship. At the district tournament, she and her teammates also won the championship 3 times.

"I work in a river-related profession so I have some experience driving. This year, my health is still good so my children and grandchildren continue to encourage me to participate. I have 4 daughters and 7 grandchildren," the old lady with white hair shared.

Cụ bà 70 tóc bạc trắng đua thuyền rồng, hàng loạt đối thủ chào thua - 11

This year, once again, Ms. Nga and the Pho Chau town women's rowing team continued to win the championship in the admiration of their opponents (Photo: Anh Duong).

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