Steady Row to Paris

INSPIRATION FROM A GIRL FROM QUANG BINH

Many of Pham Thi Hue's former teammates have retired from rowing because rowing requires hard work and hardship, with daily "working hard" and reaching the age of 30 is a difficult threshold to overcome. However, the scorching sun and pouring rain cannot subdue the will of this brave girl from Quang Binh. At the age of 34, Hue is still plodding and muscular on the racetrack.

Pham Thi Hue went to the Olympics at the age of 34 - a feat in her memorable career

Witnessing the extraordinary determination of her seniors, the younger generations feel admiration and take Hue as an example of overcoming difficulties. She has always been a pillar of the rowing team for over a decade. She has walked on roses with a series of major titles such as 3 silver medals, 2 bronze medals at the ASIAD, 6 gold medals at the SEA Games... But for Hue, she always wants to conquer new heights.

Pham Thi Hue (fourth from left) at the ceremony to send off the Vietnamese delegation to the Olympics.

Hue qualified for the Olympics twice in 2016 and 2020. Ironically, due to the regulations of the Organizing Committee and the calculations of the Vietnamese rowing coaching staff, she had to miss the appointment. And it seemed that the Olympic dream would forever be just a dream, a quiet moment in the career of this female athlete born in 1990, but in the qualifying round at the end of April 2024, she won a ticket to Paris in overwhelming happiness. She finished in the top 5 with a time of 7 minutes 53 seconds 08. A position just enough to make Hue's 16-year dream of rowing come true.

The joy was boundless when Hue won a ticket to the Olympics.

At the age of 34, participating in the Olympics, having achievements at the ASIAD and being the golden girl at the SEA Games, Hue has all the achievements that an athlete dreams of. And when asked if the 2024 Olympics is the end point, Hue just smiled and said: "I don't have an answer for my future yet. I just try my best every day in training and competing."

That's right! Hue has not found her stopping point because she does not know where her limit is. She always wants to conquer every challenge. The 2024 Olympics will be a special tournament for Hue. "It is a big playground, every athlete wants to participate at least once. I have missed the appointment twice and participating this time brings indescribable emotions. Everyone knows that qualifying for the Olympics is difficult for Vietnamese athletes. Therefore, when coming to this arena, I will try my best to compete," she confided.

Hue's half love

A corner of everyday life!

Always setting clear goals, Hue not only prepares well mentally, but also tries hard to practice to improve her "skills". Right after competing successfully in the 2024 Southeast Asian Games, she immediately started the sprint phase for the 2024 Olympics. Training in Hai Phong, she is receiving great support from the rear. After many years away from her daughter, her whole family has moved to Hai Phong to live. That is a great support for Hue to dream of a successful Olympics for herself. At this year's Olympics, she has to face 28 very strong opponents and of course the challenge will be like a mountain.

Nguyen Thi Huong TOUCHING HISTORY

At the age of 14, Nguyen Thi Huong chose wrestling to start her career. Unfortunately, she received her first shock at the age of 15 when the local wrestling team disbanded. Should she give up sports? She asked herself and answered: Never. She decided to "turn" to canoeing. And it was she who made a miraculous leap with a ticket to the 2024 Olympics in a spectacular and surprising way.

The little girl Nguyen Thi Huong has made Vietnamese sports famous.

Before 2024, Vietnamese canoeing had never set foot in the Olympics. Simply because the level of athletes was still far behind that of the continent and the world. At the 2024 Olympic qualifying round taking place in Japan in April 2024, Huong participated with a very relaxed mentality. She admitted: "I decided to just go to exchange and learn because in the qualifying round, I met the people who had just defeated me at the 19th ASIAD. When competing again, I thought it would be difficult to defeat them."

Nguyen Thi Huong (right cover) is small but resilient.

Not dreaming of her own fairy tale, but history called Huong's name with a ticket to Paris in an emotional outburst. She finished second in the women's single sculls C1 (200 m). Recalling that moment, she still sobbed: "I couldn't believe it was true. Thinking back now, I'm still excited, emotional and proud". In just a few months, Huong defeated herself as well as her opponent to write history for Vietnamese canoeing.

Behind the ticket that is more precious than gold is Huong's arduous and bitter path. She was born into a farming family in Don Nhan commune, Song Lo district (Vinh Phuc). Huong said: "When I was young, my family was very poor. My parents worked hard but still could not support the family, including my grandmother and two sisters. In 2015, when the teachers at the Vinh Phuc Province Sports Training and Competition Center came to recruit soldiers, I immediately accepted." A 14-year-old girl innocently thought "playing sports to help my family because I could be fed and educated, but I did not think about pursuing a high-level career and did not think deeply about what sport to practice or how to practice."

Coming to canoeing, Huong's only advantage is her physical strength. She accumulated quite a lot when practicing wrestling for 1 year. Everything else is zero. She doesn't even know how to swim and had to learn swimming 2 weeks before officially practicing canoeing.

Huong struggled with both professional and mental problems when she was away from home because she moved to Hai Phong to train. Difficulties kept coming to a girl who was only 15 years old. Huong recalled: "When I first started practicing, it was very difficult. There were many sessions when I fell as soon as I climbed onto the boat, and I fell countless times. Practicing in the summer made my skin burn. In the winter, it was bitterly cold, and the steam from the river blew up, making me numb. I practiced very hard, sometimes not resting until 6-7 pm."

Two sisters Hue and Huong

There were times when Huong felt discouraged, missed her family, and felt sorry for herself. "There was a time when I told myself that I would stop practicing after finishing high school," she shared. However, her determination and perseverance in the face of hardships forged a strong spirit for Huong. "I thought about my family, sometimes I let myself go to think again. And at that time, I started to have achievements, many bonuses, and improved my family's economy. From then on, I was determined to pursue this subject, to have higher achievements to help my family and myself more," she said.

The 2018 National Sports Festival became a beautiful memory for Huong. The girl born in 2001 won 3 team gold medals in boundless happiness. Since then, her career has been steadily advancing. Her two impressive milestones are 5 gold medals at the 31st SEA Games and a ticket to the 2024 Olympics. 16 of the world's best athletes will be her opponents. Like her senior Pham Thi Hue, Huong set a big goal, will fight to the best of her ability to go as far as possible in the most difficult arena on the planet.

Vietnam 's Olympic competition schedule ( Vietnam time)

July 25: Archery: Do Thi Anh Nguyet (2:30 p.m.), Le Quoc Phong (7:30 p.m.).

July 27 : Badminton : Nguyen Thuy Linh (2:20 p.m.), Le Duc Phat (4:00 p.m.).

Judo: Hoang Thi Tinh, women's 48 kg (15 hours).

Rowing: Pham Thi Hue, women's heavyweight singles (15:12).

Shooting: Trinh Thu Vinh, 10m air pistol qualifying round (5:30 p.m.).

Boxing: Vo Thi Kim Anh, 54 kg (20:30); Ha Thi Linh, 60 kg (21:18).

July 28:

Shooting: Le Thi Mong Tuyen, 10m air rifle qualifying round (14:15).

Swimming: Vo Thi My Tien, women's 200m freestyle qualifying round (16 hours).

July 29:

Swimming: Nguyen Huy Hoang, men's 800m freestyle qualifying round (16 hours).

August 2:

Archery: Do Thi Anh Nguyet and Le Quoc Phong compete in the round of 16 of the mixed doubles event with one string (2:30 p.m.).

Athletics : Tran Thi Nhi Yen, women's 100m back (15:35).

August 4:

Cycling: Nguyen Thi That competes in the women's individual road event (19 hours).

August 7:

Weightlifting: Trinh Van Vinh competes in the 61 kg weight class (20 hours).

August 8:

Canoeing: Nguyen Thi Huong, women's 200m single sculls qualifying round (3:30 p.m.).

Quang Tuyen

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chinh-phuc-dinh-olympic-vung-tay-cheo-den-paris-185240718225313002.htm