What should Vietnamese sports do to avoid falling behind?

Archers lack arrows, no science and technology applied in training - Photo: HOANG TUNG

On October 15, 2024, the Government approved the "Vietnam Sports Development Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2045". This is the guideline for orienting the development of Vietnam Sports (VS) in the future.

After the strategy was approved, a series of programs and projects are being implemented to realize the goals. In 2025, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will complete the development of the "Program for developing key sports to prepare for the Olympics and Asian Games in the period 2026-2046".

Winning SEA Games, going to Asiad, Olympics "power outage"

According to the draft "Program for developing key sports to prepare for the Olympics and Asian Games in the period 2026-2046", in recent years, Vietnamese sports have made progress, but the results at the Olympics and Asian Games are still modest, showing signs of falling behind many strong sports in Asia and the world.

At the Olympic arena, the results are unstable and declining. At the 2012 London Olympics, Vietnam had 18 athletes qualify for the Olympics, winning 1 bronze medal in weightlifting. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Vietnam had 23 athletes participating, winning 1 gold medal and 1 silver medal in shooting thanks to shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh. However, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2024 Paris Olympics, Vietnam only had 18 and 16 athletes qualifying, respectively, without any medals.

The same thing happened at the Asian Games. The specific achievements of Vietnamese athletes at recent Asian Games are as follows: 2014 Asian Games won 1 gold medal; 2018 Asian Games won 4 gold medals; 2022 Asian Games (held in 2023) won 3 gold medals. Although Vietnamese athletes are always in the top 3 of the SEA Games (Southeast Asian Games), even reaching 1st and 2nd place in many competitions, their achievements at the Asian Games and Olympics are usually only 5th or 6th in Southeast Asia.

The main reason is that Vietnam lacks a national program for training athletes, focusing on improving performance in key sports to prepare for the Olympics and Asiad. The program for developing key sports to prepare for the Olympics and Asiad in the period 2026-2046 was therefore built to achieve the above goal.

The program is carried out nationwide, with funding focused on strengthening youth teams, talent teams, and second-tier athletes who are trained abroad and compete internationally. Currently, the country has 22,000 athletes of all levels. Notably, athletes who do not have Vietnamese nationality but are eligible for naturalization and have talent are also among the investment targets of the Olympic and Asian Games target programs.

Shooting athletes lack bullets and training equipment, a situation that has been going on for many years - Photo: HOANG TUNG

Many athletes but not good, limited coaching skills

According to the sports industry, although there are many Vietnamese athletes, few have the ability to compete for an Asian Games gold medal or approach an Olympic medal. This comes from many factors, including selection, investment, and treatment.

In the Olympic arena, it is difficult for Vietnamese athletes to pass the qualifying round, let alone win medals. The Department of Sports and Physical Training stated that out of the 4 gold medals won by the Vietnamese delegation at the 2018 Asian Games, 2 came from Silat. In 2018, Indonesia hosted the Asian Games, and this sport is Indonesia's national martial art.

Therefore, even at the 2022 Asian Games, Silat was not included in the competition program. At the 2022 Asian Games, Vietnam won 27 medals including 3 gold medals, 5 silver medals, 19 bronze medals, ranking 21st out of 45 Asian countries and territories. This shows that there are many Vietnamese athletes but too few athletes are qualified enough to win Asian gold medals.

Coaching qualifications are also assessed as limited, from domestic to foreign experts. Currently, foreign coaches' salaries in Vietnam average only 3,000 - 4,000 USD/month. Only shooting expert Park Chung Gun (who terminated his contract in 2024) is paid 6,000 USD/month. With this salary, TTVN cannot hire good experts.

The policies for high-performance sports are limited and equal. Currently, a top Vietnamese athlete receives an average salary of 7 million VND/person/month. The treatment for athletes who achieve high results at the Asian Games and Olympics is not commensurate with their contributions, and does not create motivation for athletes to strive.

An athlete who wins an Asian Games or Olympic gold medal but when joining the national team only receives a salary of over 7 million VND/month. With limited nutrition money, athletes can only eat their fill but lack nutrients and necessary supplements.

The sports industry says it costs at least $6,000 to $8,000 a month to hire a foreign expert with a relatively high level of expertise. The industry currently needs at least 35 to 40 experts.

Fencing athletes lacking swords to meet international competition standards has been happening for many years - Photo: NAM TRAN

Key investment in 17 sports

The "Program for developing key sports to prepare for the Olympics and Asiad in the period 2026-2046" developed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism therefore needs to be completed and implemented soon.

The program's goal for the 2025-2030 period is to maintain a top 3 finish at the SEA Games and a top 20 finish at the Asian Games. The goal is to win 5-7 Asian Games gold medals, and have Olympic and Paralympic medals. Men's football is in the top 10 in Asia and women's football is in the top 8 in Asia.

Every year, about 350 - 400 athletes are selected for national sports teams. Select and focus on training 175 - 180 excellent young athletes in 17 key sports: athletics, shooting, archery, fencing, weightlifting, boxing, gymnastics, cycling, taekwondo, wrestling, judo, karate, wushu, rowing, swimming, badminton, and sepak takraw.

2031-2046 period: regularly maintain in the top 2 at the SEA Games, in the top 15 at the Asian Games and in the top 50 at the Olympics. Men's football is in the top 8 in Asia and qualifies for the World Cup. Women's football is in the top 8 in Asia and qualifies for the World Cup. In 2038, TTVN aims to host and organize the first Asian Games.

Mr. Dang Ha Viet - Director of the Department of Sports and Physical Training - said that on March 28, the sports industry is expected to organize a workshop to listen to experts and scientists contribute their opinions to the "Program for developing key sports to prepare for the Olympics and Asian Games in the period of 2026-2046". According to the schedule, the program will be submitted by the ministry to the Government for approval in 2025.

Without a key investment program, Vietnam's Asian Games and Olympic sports will find it difficult to catch up with the continent and reach the world - Photo: TTO

Fencing without sword, archery without arrow

An average Vietnamese archer can only shoot 200 - 300 arrows per day (the number for Korean archers is 400 - 500 arrows). In fencing, athletes are not allowed to use standard swords, and the lack of practice swords in the national team is a regular occurrence.

Shooting is allocated 3.3 billion VND per year for training and international competitions, while it needs at least 10 - 12 billion VND. Shooting athletes often lack ammunition for practice.

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KHUONG XUAN