Speed Cup is not really… speed

cúp tốc độ - Ảnh 1. — Quach Thi Lan shows dominance at this year's Speed Cup - Photo: DUC VU

Taking place on April 16 and 17, gathering about 489 athletes from all over the country, Speed Cup 2025 can be called the first athletics tournament this year. However, Speed Cup 2025 has not really brought any professional impressions.

Missing stars

The most obvious thing when looking at the list of athletes participating in this year's tournament is the absence of famous stars of Vietnamese athletics. Specifically, it is the absence of Tran Nhat Hoang, Ngan Ngoc Nghia, Bui Thi Nguyen, Nguyen Hoai Van... Meanwhile, Quach Cong Lich, although still present, is in a new role as coach of the youth team.

The number of quality athletes who have participated in major international tournaments is quite small at the Speed Cup 2025. Among them, there are only a few names such as Tran Thi Nhi Yen, Tran Dinh Son, Quach Thi Lan, Le Tu Chinh. Even Quach Thi Lan or Tu Chinh are considered stars thanks to their past achievements. In fact, in recent times, both of these athletes have had little competition for many reasons.

The lack of stars was so evident that in the women's 400m final, there were only 4 athletes participating. Therefore, Quach Thi Lan easily won the gold medal because this is her forte. Meanwhile, the athlete of the national track and field team, Tran Thi Nhi Yen, is good at the 100m and 200m distances and only registered to compete in the 400m event to "test her strength" and still won the silver medal.

Cúp Tốc Độ chưa thật… tốc độ - Ảnh 2. — Le Tu Chinh participates in Ho Chi Minh City Speed Cup 2025 - Photo: TTO

Not yet fully unleashed

The lack of stars also partly makes the professional quality of this year's Speed Cup not too high. There are almost no surprises when athletes or strong units win. The biggest surprise is probably the victory in the men's 400m distance belonging to Ta Ngoc Tuong instead of Tran Dinh Son.

With the athletics tournament supposed to kick off the new year, this year's Speed Cup was not "eye-catching". But there is a reason for this as shared by Mr. Trinh Duc Thanh, a member of the organizing committee:

"The national team athletes participating in the Speed Cup with the national team or local team's colors are only for the purpose of increasing intensity and getting used to the competition state. No athlete has used all their strength because their muscles have just passed the general physical foundation preparation stage, so they cannot reach 100% performance. It is not easy to reach your own record at this time.

The organizers always try to maintain the tournament to help athletes have more fields to practice, so that coaches can evaluate the technical aspects to see what is lacking and then add more. Only when competing, athletes can feel pressure, concentrate their nerves and mobilize 100% of their body's capacity. This is a goal that the Speed Cup is aiming for."

DUC KHUE - THANH DINH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cup-toc-do-chua-that-toc-do-20250417233904277.htm