Golden girl on the blue track

Swimmer Vo Thi My Tien won the ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics in France

Endless effort

In the last days of the year, while most athletes only did light training after the national competitions have ended, swimmer My Tien was still practicing hard with high-intensity exercises at the Can Tho National Sports Training Center to prepare for the last tournament of the year - the Cup of the Best Athletes of 2024 held at the end of December 2024. This is also the tournament that My Tien was expected to continue to win more gold medals for Long An sports.

2024 marks a successful year for My Tien in national and international competitions. At the age of 19, My Tien has achieved the success that a professional athlete dreams of when owning all the gold medals at the youth and national levels.

“Although My Tien’s family does not have a tradition of pursuing a sports career, from the time she was discovered, selected and trained until she achieved success, My Tien is an example of continuous hard work and determination to conquer the peaks” - Mr. Nguyen Bao Hoan said.

At the age of 10, My Tien was discovered through an athlete selection by teachers at Long An Sports Talent School. It was not by chance that she was convinced to pursue a professional sports career, but because the teachers knew about her special qualities. After only 2 years of training, My Tien had made constant progress.

Her first mark on the blue track was winning 2 Silver Medals and 3 Bronze Medals at the 2019 Southeast Asian Age Group Swimming Championship. This was also an important milestone when she was named in the list of participants at the 30th SEA Games in the Philippines.

The initial achievements and qualities helped My Tien become the youngest athlete to be transferred to the professional training at the Can Tho National Sports Training Center. Although this is the golden period of super swimmer Anh Vien, My Tien once shocked the aquatic sports world when she snatched 2 gold medals and 2 national youth records from her idol Anh Vien in 2020. Since then, every day with 2 training sessions and the guidance of coaches, My Tien has made rapid progress, affirming her name on the blue track.

However, at that time, in the swimming world, all attention was focused on swimmer Anh Vien when she often dominated almost all events at national swimming championships. At the 2022 National Swimming Championship, My Tien participated in 14 individual events but only won 1 gold medal, the remaining 13 silver medals were all lost to her idol.

After this tournament, swimmer Anh Vien suddenly announced her retirement. This was also the time when My Tien rose to affirm her position as the number 1 female swimmer in Vietnam when at the following national swimming championships, the young girl from Long An won all the gold medals in all the events she participated in. My Tien's success is the result of a process of constant striving and hard training.

From runner-up position to Olympic ticket

If during the period when swimmer Anh Vien was still competing, My Tien was only considered the runner-up, then from 2023, My Tien officially rose to become the number 1 female swimmer in Vietnam. Also in this year, at the swimming competitions held, My Tien won 72 gold medals, 21 silver medals, 15 bronze medals in individual and relay events.

Particularly at the 2024 National Swimming Championship held in October 2024, although the Long An team only had 5 athletes participating, including 1 young athlete and 3 athletes in the relay team, the Long An swimming team still excellently won second place overall. Contributing to that success, My Tien showed impressive performance when winning 9 individual gold medals, 1 individual bronze medal and 2 relay bronze medals.

“Every time I enter a tournament, I set a goal to compete well, surpass myself, achieve the best results to bring glory to the province's sports, and respond to the expectations of teachers and sports fans” - My Tien shared.

With outstanding and consistent achievements in each tournament, My Tien was awarded a special ticket by the World Swimming Federation to France to compete in the women's 200m individual medley at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

She affirmed that participating in the Olympics is an important milestone in the athlete's life, a pride, a dream and an experience that is very difficult to come by a second time in her career. Although the results of the Paris Olympics 2024 was not good as the tournament gathers the best athletes in the world, for My Tien, the lessons learned are valuable. “Those are useful lessons for me to continue to be determined to practice and compete, bringing glory to the province as well as the Fatherland” - My Tien said.

Mr. Nguyen Bao Hoan informed: “It is an honor that for the first time in the history of Long An sports, we had 2 athletes participating in the Olympic Games, My Tien in swimming and Tran Thi Nhi Yen in athletics. Personally, My Tien has always been considered the most typical athlete of Long An sports for the past 5 years.

The number of medals that My Tien has brought to Long An accounts for 80-90% of the total number of medals that Long An sports have won at national youth tournaments and national championships. In particular, in 2024, she contributed over 90% of the gold medals of the province. Her continuous hard work has helped My Tien participate in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games for the first time. This is a worthy achievement for her"./.

By Thuy Anh - Translated by Q. Thien

Source: https://baolongan.vn/co-gai-vang-tren-duong-dua-xanh-a189546.html