Vietnamese athletics train in Thailand to prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympics qualifiers

On April 23, information from the Vietnam Athletics Federation said that the key group of athletes in the women's 4x400m relay event will train for a long time in Thailand from April 25 (lasting nearly 1 month), before participating in the 2024 Asian Relay Championship (Olympic qualifying round) to win tickets to the upcoming Olympics in France.

Athlete Quach Thi Lan starts the women's 400m hurdles final at the 31st SEA Games. Photo: Quoc Khanh/VNA

Vietnamese athletics aims to win an official Olympic ticket in the women's 4x400m relay event. According to the regulations of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the 16 relay teams (women's 4x400m) with the highest positions on the rankings (based on the results of international competitions) competing for Olympic tickets will receive official tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Up to this point, Vietnam Athletics has not competed in any official international tournaments since the 19th ASIAD, so the Vietnam Athletics Team Coaching Board is arranging for athletes to practice and train to prepare thoroughly for the upcoming Olympic qualifiers.

In the coming months of May and June, the Vietnam Athletics Team will participate in international tournaments according to the professional schedule. Most notably, the women's 4x400m relay team will participate in the 2024 Asian Relay Championship (taking place in Thailand) from May 20.

Nguyen Manh Hung, Head of the Athletics Department (Department of Sports and Physical Training) and General Secretary of the Vietnam Athletics Federation, said that the Coaching Board has planned to prepare professionally and send key athletes of the women's 4x400m relay to train in Thailand. This is an important training session for athletes to prepare for international tournaments in May and June.

Runners including Quach Thi Lan, Nguyen Thi Hang, Nguyen Thi Ngoc, Hoang Thi Minh Hanh and Le Thi Tuyet Mai will start their training program in Thailand from April 25 and will last for nearly a month. Among them, young athlete Tuyet Mai, who is participating in the 2024 Asian Youth Athletics Championships in the UAE, will arrive in Thailand for training later than her seniors.

Recently, the women's 4x400m relay team of Vietnam Athletics trained at the National Sports Training Center in Ho Chi Minh City to gain more expertise, physical strength and mentality. Currently, the team members have returned to Hanoi to train at the National Sports Training Center in Hanoi.

The women's 4x400m relay of Vietnam Athletics is currently holding the No. 1 position in Asia. Vietnam won the Gold Medal in this event at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships with a result of 3 minutes 32 seconds 06. Meanwhile, the closest parameter that the women's 4x400m event achieved was the result from the 19th ASIAD (3 minutes 31 seconds 61).

According to the provisional rankings of the World Athletics Federation for the official 2024 Paris Olympics, the women's 4x400m event of Vietnamese Athletics is currently ranked 28th.

According to the Coaching Board of the Vietnam Athletics Team, the spirit of the athletes in the women's 4x400m relay team is very high. The chance of Vietnam's athletics to officially qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics (France) depends entirely on their performance in upcoming international competitions.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (Japan), Vietnamese Athletics received a special spot for athlete Quach Thi Lan (participating in the women's 400m hurdles event). The runner from Thanh Hoa passed the qualifying round and reached the Semi-finals in this event.

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