Thanh Hoa Cao Thi Duyen - athlete who won three gold medals and two silver medals in diving at the 32nd SEA Games, was born into difficult circumstances, with her father working as a stonemason and her mother working in the fields and weaving bamboo mats every day.
Athlete Cao Thi Duyen received gold medal at SEA Games 32.
The small house of athlete Cao Thi Duyen's family at the end of Quy Tan village, Cam Quy commune, Cam Thuy mountainous district has been filled with laughter these past few days. Many neighbors, upon hearing the news of Duyen's great achievements at the 32nd SEA Games, came to share the joy with the "golden girl".
The small house, about 30 square meters wide, was perched precariously on a steep hillside and had no valuable assets. On the limestone walls, there were still streaks of unplastered mortar, many of Cao Thi Duyen’s certificates and medals.
Mr. Cao Van Ky (45 years old), Duyen's father, said that he and his wife were not surprised but extremely proud of their daughter's results at the 32nd SEA Games.
Mr. Ky works as a stonemason 30 km away from home. He has just returned to his village to mourn his uncle, just in time for his daughter to compete in Cambodia. According to Muong custom, when a relative dies, the TV cannot be turned on, so the family does not watch the SEA Games competition programs, nor does it regularly update their daughter's achievements.
Pointing to the old broken TV, Mr. Ky said that neither of them had a smartphone so they did not know what Duyen's results were. It was only when the neighbors informed them and the coach called to congratulate them that the family learned that their daughter had won three gold medals and two silver medals. "My family is truly living in happy days...", Mr. Ky said, adding that his daughter said she was coming home soon and that her relatives were eagerly waiting for her. The father said that despite the difficulties, this trip he would definitely slaughter a pig to treat the neighbors.
Mr. Cao Van Ky and his wife proudly show off their daughter's achievements. Photo: Lam Son
When talking about his daughter, Mr. Ky pointed to the jagged stone wall covered with medals and certificates, his voice full of pride as he told about her difficult journey. Mr. Ky and his wife live in a mountainous area, in very difficult circumstances. Every day, he works for the quarries around the area, while his wife, Mrs. Quang, works all day on the fields, and in her free time she weaves bamboo mats to earn extra income. Cao Thi Duyen's childhood was spent with her elderly grandmother.
According to relatives, since childhood, Duyen has shown outstanding ability compared to her friends in the village because of her passion for swimming. During the summer, she often goes to the lake near her house to compete in swimming and cool off. Every time she beats her friends, Duyen runs home to show off to her grandmother. Many times, fearing that their daughter would drown, Mr. Ky and his wife scolded and tried to stop their daughter from swimming, but "no matter how they forbade her, it was useless because she loves water."
In 2011, a turning point in the life of this Muong girl came when her talent was discovered. In the Phu Dong Sports Festival of Thanh Hoa province, Duyen won first prize in swimming. In 2012, Duyen officially became a swimming athlete at the Thanh Hoa Province Sports Training and Competition Center, when she was only 10 years old.
According to Mr. Ky, the day his daughter left her family to go to the city to practice, he and his wife were very worried. "My daughter was still so young, many times seeing my wife cry because she missed her, I also had tears in my eyes. But because I wanted her to have a better future, I held back my emotions and advised my wife to try to encourage her to practice with peace of mind," Mr. Ky recalled.
The small house of Cao Thi Oanh's family. Photo: Lam Son
At the training center, Duyen was trained in swimming. However, during the training, the coaching staff discovered that she had hepatitis B. Duyen was at risk of having to stop her career, because swimming requires more effort and is not suitable for people with the disease. In the most difficult time, coach Pham Tuan Anh, who directly trained Duyen, helped her switch to diving, because in this sport, athletes have fins to support them. From here, Duyen's career started a new page. She continuously achieved success at a very young age.
Shortly after switching to diving, Cao Thi Duyen won two gold medals and broke two national records at the age group championships in 2015. A year later, Duyen continued to win gold at the national youth championships. In 2017, at the age of 16, Duyen won three gold medals and broke one record at the national championships, and also won two gold medals at the Asian youth championships.
Notably, at the 2018 National Sports Festival, Duyen won one gold medal, two silver medals, breaking one record. In 2020 and 2021, Cao Thi Duyen maintained her record of winning two gold medals at the national championship. In 2022, she continued to maintain her medal streak with two gold medals at the 31st SEA Games; three gold medals, three silver medals at the National Sports Festival, breaking two records.
The lake in En village is where Cao Thi Duyen learned to swim when she was a child. Photo: Lam Son
Coach Pham Tuan Anh said that Duyen has been aware of independence since a very early age due to the nature of professional athletes living far away from their families. In addition to training and competing, she is currently a student majoring in sports management at Thanh Hoa University of Culture, Sports and Tourism. He also affirmed that Duyen's goal of SEA Games 32 has been achieved, but professional sports are very harsh, so he always reminds Duyen to continue to practice hard to conquer new heights in other important tournaments.
"Unfortunately, diving is only held at the SEA Games and at the highest level, the Asian Championship, and has not been included in the Asian Games or the Olympics. Hopefully one day this sport will receive more attention so that athletes like Duyen have the opportunity to show themselves in major arenas...", said coach Pham Tuan Anh.
The house is full of medals and certificates of merit of athlete Cao Thi Duyen. Video: Lam Son
At the 32nd SEA Games, Cao Thi Duyen excellently won 3 gold medals in diving in the following events: 4x200m women's air hose relay; 4x100m women's air hose relay; 100m women's double air hose. Won 2 silver medals in the events: 50m women's air hose individual and 4x50m mixed relay. This is the highest achievement, a record of Thanh Hoa sports that an athlete won at a SEA Games.
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