Vietnam Sports Day March 27: Overcoming difficulties to raise the bar and impressive records

Marks in the international arena

Just last month, Vietnam Cycling in general and Vietnam Cycling in particular went through a very difficult situation. However, we finally overcame it, even achieved excellent results, making a splash in the international arena.

It was the 2025 Asian Road Cycling Championship, taking place in Thailand. Right before the tournament took place, most of the Vietnamese cycling team's bikes and specialized competition equipment were burned down due to objective reasons.

Vietnamese athletes continue to make their mark on the international arena (Photo: Hai Long).

In cycling, specialized equipment is very important for athletes, because this equipment is specifically designed according to each individual's individual parameters.

That is why, when the competition equipment and vehicles of the Vietnamese cycling team were burned down, many people imagined a bad outcome for the Vietnamese road cycling team at the Asian tournament.

However, Vietnamese athletes were more successful than expected, winning two gold medals, one silver medal and three bronze medals at the continental tournament. Among them, Hoang Hai Nam's gold medal in the men's over-60 individual time trial event came from a bicycle borrowed from the host country, Thailand.

This is a rare phenomenon in cycling, which has surprised the media in the Land of the Golden Pagoda. Because, as mentioned, in cycling, each bike is designed specifically according to the height, weight, arm span, leg span of the athlete...

Even the "slope" from the saddle to the handlebars must be designed specifically according to each athlete's familiar posture. Therefore, winning an Asian gold medal with a borrowed bike is a rare event.

That detail also reflects the ability to overcome difficulties of Vietnamese athletes, of the Vietnam Cycling and Motor Sports Federation and of the sports industry: Overcoming difficulties to make a mark on the international arena.

Another milestone that just appeared in March was the World Cup carom billiards 3-cushion championship of Tran Thanh Luc and the runner-up position of the World National Team Championship of the Vietnamese team, with two representatives being Tran Quyet Chien and Bao Phuong Vinh.

These are achievements that make the media around the world admire the potential of Vietnam in this sport. Despite the fact that Korea has continuously invested heavily in billiards for many years, the quality of Korean players in particular, and the quality of players around the world in general, is still not stronger than that of Vietnamese players.

Records of "Steel Athletes"

Not only leaving their mark in sports that require dexterity, Vietnamese athletes are also capable of succeeding in sports and competitions that require outstanding physical strength and extremely high endurance from the participants.

Overcoming difficulties is a characteristic of Vietnamese athletes (Photo: Do ​​Minh Quan).

Athlete Ha Thi Hau has continuously achieved impressive achievements in ultra marathons around the world. In May 2024, Ha Thi Hau won the women's 100 km event at the world's top ultra-terrain running race, Amazean Jungle Thailand. The time for Ha Thi Hau to finish first in this event was 16 hours 12 minutes 30 seconds.

That is, to overcome this extremely harsh 100 km distance, the female athlete of TTVN must run continuously for more than 16 hours, taking advantage of light meals and watering at the allowed level along the way.

In December last year, Ha Thi Hau once again won on the race track in Thailand. This time she won the women's 54 km event, at the Hoka Chiang Mai trail race, with a time of 5 hours 08 minutes 38 seconds.

Earlier this year, Hà Thị Hậu broke her own personal record at the World Trail Majors in Hong Kong, China, with a time of 12 hours, 9 minutes, 37 seconds. This was nearly half an hour less than Hà Thị Hậu’s previous personal record of 12 hours, 36 minutes, 17 seconds, at a similar tournament held in August 2024.

Ultra marathons are extremely tough competitions, athletes not only run over extremely long distances, but sometimes also cross harsh terrain conditions, through forests, like at Amazean Jungle Thailand. Therefore, Ha Thi Hau's continuous success proves that she is extremely resilient and has great determination.

Another athlete of Vietnam Sports Administration who also succeeded in the very tough Triple competition (3 combined events, including running, swimming and cycling) is Vu Phuong Thanh (commonly known as Thanh Vu).

She is among the first seven athletes in the world to complete the Triple Deca Continuous challenge, a race held in Desenzano del Garda (Italy). This is considered the most difficult Triple race in the world today.

To complete this race, Thanh Vu will spend 45 days competing, from September 1 to October 15, 2024. The competitions include swimming 144 km (no more than 96 hours), cycling 5,400 km (no more than 550 hours) and running 1,260 km (time limit 550 hours).

Thanh Vu's specific achievements were 95 hours and 47 minutes of swimming, 535 hours and 53 minutes and 56 seconds of cycling and 403 hours and 35 minutes and 23 seconds of running. These were also the best results of a female athlete at this tournament, a world record.

Previously, in 2016, Thanh Vu made a record as the first Asian woman to run through the four harshest deserts in the world, including Sahara (in Africa), Gobi (Asia), Atacama (America), and Antarctica (Antarctica) in the 4th international ultra-endurance race (Deserts Grand Slam) with a total length of up to 1,000km in just 6 months (from May to November 2016).

In 2022, Thanh Vu became the first Vietnamese female athlete to win The Deca Ultratriathlon. She covered a distance of 2,260km, of which she swam 38km, cycled 1,800km and ran 422km. All of these are amazing distances and stats.

Elite Sports: Changing Focus, Aiming for Big Arenas

The failure at the 2024 Paris Olympics has directed Vietnam Sports Administration to a different direction in investment. We will focus more on key sports that appear regularly at the Olympics and Asiad.

Sports tournaments take place everywhere, stimulating the overall development of Vietnam Sports Administration (Photo: Thanh Dong).

Expert Doan Minh Xuong, former lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Sports, once advised: "In the Olympic arena, there are sports and events that are very suitable for Southeast Asian athletes in general and Vietnamese athletes in particular. We can aim for these sports and events."

"These are shooting, gymnastics, weightlifting (lightweight), and martial arts competitions (lightweight). These are sports and events that do not require too much in terms of stature and physical strength, suitable for Asian athletes, including Vietnamese athletes.

Many countries in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines have attacked these sports and achieved high rankings at the Olympics. That is the direction that Vietnam can aim for," expert Doan Minh Xuong added.

That is also the path that Vietnam Sports Administration will probably aim for in the near future: directly attacking the subjects and events that can help us win medals, even gold medals, consistently at the Olympics and Asian Games.

Changing the focus of investment from widespread to focused is something that the sports industry has been doing for the past few years. Let's not forget that we are a strong sports force in Southeast Asia in the two most basic sports of the Olympic movement, including athletics and swimming.

Of course, success in these two sports at the Olympics is much more difficult than success in the other sports, because the competition is so high. However, maintaining high regional achievements in athletics and swimming is a must, and the sports industry has done a good job of this in recent times.

This is also a testament to the fact that Vietnam Sports always aims for change to be better, more suitable to global trends, and the Vietnam Sports industry has never wanted to stand still. The sports industry is still making constant efforts to help Vietnam Sports rise up, creating a buzz at the biggest tournaments in Asia and the world!

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/ngay-the-thao-viet-nam-273-vuot-kho-de-nang-tam-va-nhung-ky-luc-an-tuong-20250327125636596.htm