Interesting facts about two girls from Long An: Nhi Yen, My Tien

Tran Thi Nhi Yen and Vo Thi My Tien are both 19 years old, from Long An and will attend the 2024 Olympics with special tickets given to their sports potential - Photo: HOANG TUNG

At the 2024 Olympics, Nhi Yen will compete in the 100m run, while My Tien will compete in the 200m individual medley.

Following in the footsteps of her senior Le Tu Chinh

Tran Thi Nhi Yen was born in 2005 in Long Huu Tay commune, Can Duoc district, Long An. She showed her athletic talent early in 8th grade, but it was not until the end of 11th grade that Yen officially started practicing professional athletics locally.

During a training session at the Ho Chi Minh City National Sports Training Center (Center 2), Nhi Yen had the chance to meet coach Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong (who created the “speed queen” Le Tu Chinh). This was the turning point that helped her advance rapidly.

At the end of 2022, after winning the gold medal at the national youth tournament, Nhi Yen stunned the Vietnamese athletics community when she won the gold medal in the 100m race and the silver medal in the 200m race in her first participation in the National Sports Festival.

By 2023, Nhi Yen shone in her two favorite distances of 100m and 200m, winning all the gold medals in the domestic competitions and setting two new national youth records. In her first international appearance, she also won 1 bronze medal and 1 silver medal at the 32nd SEA Games and was twice in the top 8 fastest athletes in Asia.

In many cases where young talents become famous early, besides outstanding innate qualities, strong mentality and character have a great impact.

Coach Thanh Huong's story may explain why Nhi Yen has progressed so quickly.

Coach Thanh Huong shared: “Yen has a good mentality and the most unique thing is her ability to observe and analyze to filter out the best for herself. During the first days of training at Center 2, there was a session when she kept looking at the men's team.

Then Yen asked to… race and no one could catch up. When competing abroad, I pretended to ignore it a few times to see how my students would handle difficulties and every time she surprised me.”

For her part, when asked about her rapid progress in athletics, Nhi Yen modestly said that she only tried to do her best in what she had trained for. “I have to improve my skills more, such as starting ability and finishing power,” she said.

Currently, besides focusing on her profession, the girl from the Vam Co river region is improving her foreign language skills.

Yen said: “Many times when competing internationally, foreign colleagues would start a conversation but I was speechless. That’s why I want to learn English, not only to communicate and make international friends but also to learn more about professional documents.”

Nhi Yen on the podium receiving the gold medal at the 2022 National Sports Festival - Photo: HOANG TUNG

Breaking Anh Vien's record

Vo Thi My Tien was born in 2005 in Long An. In recent years, she has become a phenomenon in the Vietnamese green racing scene, achieving many achievements domestically and internationally.

What is special about My Tien is her versatility as she can compete in many different distances. At the 2023 National Swimming Championship, she won 9 gold medals in short (100m), medium (200m, 400m) and long (800m, 1,500m) distances.

By the end of the year, she was awarded the title of best female athlete at the 2023 National Swimming Championship for Outstanding Athletes, after bringing home 10 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 1 bronze medal.

My Tien was already famous before that. At the age of 14, the Long An girl broke two records of Nguyen Thi Anh Vien in the 200m medley and 400m medley for the 14-15 age group.

Vo Thi My Tien's chance to learn swimming was quite coincidental. No one in her family had ever pursued a sports career. Everything came to her completely by accident when she was discovered by Long An coaches during a youth talent selection event.

At that time, My Tien was only 10 years old. Seeing a shy girl but letting her try swimming and having the required indicators, the coaches asked the family for permission to let Tien try out and she was approved.

My Tien participates in the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 200m individual medley event - Photo: NVCC

Thanks to her talent and perseverance, Vo Thi My Tien has been continuously sent to participate in major tournaments. In 2023 alone, she participated in all three important arenas: SEA Games, Asiad and World Championship. So far, Vo Thi My Tien has competed in 2 SEA Games and "pocketed" a total of 5 medals (2 silver medals, 3 bronze medals).

In early July, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) sent a letter confirming that My Tien had been granted a wild card to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 200m individual medley. My Tien's chances of making it to the Olympic finals are quite low, but being able to go to Paris to compete with the world's swimmers is a great honor for her.

Come to the Olympics to learn

For decades, even the most famous names in the two sports of Vietnamese athletics and swimming such as Nguyen Thi Huyen, Quach Thi Lan, Anh Vien, Huy Hoang could not reach the dream of an Olympic medal (or even reach the finals).

The chances of the two young girls Nhi Yen and My Tien receiving special admission are obviously even lower. However, a week of training and competing at the Olympics - a playground that millions of athletes around the world dream of - has brought a lifetime opportunity to Nhi Yen and My Tien. This is both an honor, motivation, and lesson for both of them to grow more mature in the future, contributing to Vietnamese sports.

Tuoitre.vn

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/dieu-thu-vi-ve-hai-co-gai-long-an-nhi-yen-my-tien-20240726140020895.htm