Loyal teacher-student relationship

Vu Ngoc Loi - Nguyen Thi Huyen

The day Vietnam's track queen Nguyen Thi Huyen said goodbye to the track, coach Vu Ngoc Loi cried like a child. Both teacher and student shed tears in a loving embrace.

They have been together for the past 15 years, since Huyen was in 9th grade. In Huyen's journey, Mr. Loi has always been present as a teacher, a father, supporting the unfortunate but strong-willed student.

“We have been together for exactly 15 years, so when we said goodbye, we were very emotional. When Huyen won 2 gold medals at the national championship but knew that she would not train with me anymore, we hugged each other and cried,” coach Vu Ngoc Loi still choked up when recalling that moment a year ago, when Nguyen Thi Huyen said goodbye to running to go in a different direction.

Coach Vu Ngoc Loi and Nguyen Thi Huyen

In 2015, Nguyen Thi Huyen created a "storm" of gold medals at the SEA Games and qualified for the 2016 Olympics. She was the first Vietnamese track and field athlete to achieve two Olympic standards in one tournament. At that time, Mr. Loi surprised many people when he asked to give up his position to his student. He said: "My family is stable, my children are grown up, have jobs and are married. I am also old and have a stable salary, so I want to give it to my grandchild."

He said: “During the training process, there were times when Huyen was tired, did not meet the requirements of the exercises or lost concentration, was affected by many external factors, and the teacher and student were sometimes irritable. I also yelled at her. But that did not mean we did not love each other. When I calmed down, I said that I actually just wanted her to strive and then strive to the end. She was very obedient, reasonable and understanding. We only loved and cared for each other, never stopping caring for each other.”

Ho Thi Tu Tam - Truong Thanh Hang

In the country's athletics community, Coach Ho Thi Tu Tam is like a kind mother to the middle and long distance teams. She takes care of every meal and sleep schedule, always treating the athletes like their own children. That is the launching pad that produced Asian champion Truong Thanh Hang.

Former runner Truong Thanh Hang, born in 1986, has an impressive record in her career. She won 2 gold medals, 1 silver medal, 3 bronze medals at the Asian Athletics Championships; 2 silver medals at the Asian Games; 7 gold medals and 1 bronze medal at the SEA Games. Behind that achievement is the mark of her kind mother Ho Thi Tu Tam.

In 2002, Hang moved from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang to join the national youth team and fate brought her to work with Coach Tu Tam. She always believed that one must know how to sacrifice in order to hope to succeed in the profession. This view of life is firmly rooted in Hang's mind. She seemed to have found the truth for her future. Hang always reminded herself to be determined and persistent in order to pursue her career.

As a teacher, Coach Tu Tam has the noble mission of finding rough gems to polish into bright stars. The two are compatible in thoughts, goals and perspectives on life. From then on, Hang sees her as a gentle mother, both on and off the training ground and competition floor. Although gentle, when it comes to professional exercises, Coach Tu Tam is always strict.

Hang remembers: “During training, I was most afraid of the times when I didn’t meet the requirements of the exercises and was scolded by Ms. Tam. But after thinking about it, those were the teachings that helped me become a better person.”

Tran Anh Hiep - Nguyen Thanh Phuc

Thanh Phuc (middle) next to teacher Tran Anh Hiep (left)

20 years ago, Nguyen Thanh Phuc met Coach Tran Anh Hiep when both were zero. They did not know how to walk and had to grope and find their way. It was difficult, there were times when they wanted to give up, but their will and desire urged them to pioneer this sport. Over the past 20 years, both have reaped countless achievements. Fate helped the teacher and student to explore and continue to dedicate themselves to maintaining and developing it.

Up to now, Vietnamese sports rarely have a teacher-student pair who have been together for 20 years and are still continuing like the "walking queen" Thanh Phuc and coach Tran Anh Hiep. Phuc said: "In 2004, I came to sports and started to be coached by coach Hiep. At that time, he was the coach of the average running group. I was a runner, not a walker. He discovered my talent and advised me to switch and he was the one who guided me."

At that time, Mr. Hiep saw in Phuc the rare endurance of an athlete. When it came to walking, Phuc was a 14-year-old girl, and Tran Anh Hiep was a student who had just graduated. Together, they fostered the will to make a difference in this new sport. The time to explore walking lasted for a long 2 years. Many times, they wanted to give up.

“This is a special sport, the practitioner himself finds it boring, let alone others watching. Running has to be fast, while walking is like riding a motorbike, going in the same gear over and over again. The student walks for a long time, is tiring, and seeing the teacher sitting alone is also pitiful. Not to mention, I have a talent for running, and run well. The teacher has the ability to run but he ignored it to follow walking. Many times I wanted to give up... I don't know what motivation I had to overcome it. At that time, I thought I was still young so I wanted to challenge myself,” the female athlete born in 1990 confided.

And so, the teacher and student trudged on through time. The turning point came when Phuc won the gold medal at the 2015 age-group championship. From Southeast Asia, Phuc conquered Asia and even won a ticket to the Olympics.

In 2018, Phuc retired from his career but then returned and continued to prepare for upcoming tournaments, especially the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand.

Phuc said: “Over the past 20 years, teacher and student have had countless memories. In Southeast Asian tournaments, tomorrow we compete but today we still don’t know the route. So teacher and student carry their backpacks and go around looking for the route. I feel sorry for teacher, sometimes I want to retire but all day long he is diligent, taking care of every little thing, until now I still practice.”

Vietnamese sports also have other famous teacher-student pairs such as: Truong Minh Sang - Le Thanh Tung (gymnastics), Nguyen Dinh Minh - Vu Thi Huong (athletics), Lam Minh Chau - Le Quang Liem (chess), Dang Anh Tuan - Nguyen Thi Anh Vien (swimming)...

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/the-thao-viet-nam-sat-son-tinh-nghia-thay-tro-185241119201850872.htm