Long An's prides participating in Olympic Paris 2024

Over the years, My Tien has always been a key athlete of Long An high-performance sports

Nhi Yen, My Tien - 2 bright stars of Long An sports

Over the years, with focused and key investments, Long An high-performance sports have achieved many successes and reached outstanding milestones in national and international tournaments. Among them, many Long An athletes have shone in the sky of Vietnamese sports. That includes record holder Hoai Van - who won the national championship 7 times in a row or Vietnamese volleyball icons Ngoc Hoa, Thanh Thuy. However, most Long An athletes have only achieved achievements in domestic tournaments or regional and continental tournaments.

To realize the goal of training the next generation of athletes, over the years, the provincial Sports Department has built, deployed, and implemented the Project on Developing High-Performance Sports until 2026 and with a vision to 2030. The key sports identified by the sector and prioritized investment resources are volleyball, athletics, swimming, etc. Talented athletes are selected from all localities for training and development.

Among the selected talented athletes, perhaps My Tien in swimming and Nhi Yen in athletics are the two brightest stars.

For My Tien, the 2024 Paris Olympics is a valuable experience for her to continue to strive in upcoming tournaments

At the age of 10, My Tien officially got involved with sports by chance after an athlete selection. "Before, I never thought of participate in sports. But it was swimming that gave me love and effort every time I competed" - My Tien said.

With the little girl's constant efforts and the dedicated guidance of the swimming teachers at Long An Sports Training and Competition Center, My Tien's name gradually shined on the blue track.

My Tien won consecutive Gold Medals at youth tournaments, national championships as well as regional tournaments.

"Over the past 5 years, My Tien has always been the key athlete bringing high-performance sports to the next level" - Director of Long An Sports Training and Competition Center - Nguyen Bao Hoan said.

Nhi Yen is currently the number 1 athletics athlete of Vietnam in short distances

Nhi Yen can be considered a very special case of Long An as well as Vietnam. Nhi Yen did not participate in professional sports training since childhood but was discovered through school sports competitions.

Before entering the professional path, Nhi Yen's greatest concern was studying culture. However, with her innate qualities, at the Phu Dong Sports Festival, Nhi Yen was always the brightest name in athletics. In the events she participated in, not only did she easily win the Gold Medal but the young girl continuously broke records. This was what motivated the teachers of Long An Sports Training and Competition Center to convince Nhi Yen to follow the professional sports path so as not to waste a talent.

It was the sports path that brought Nhi Yen to the spotlight when she continuously achieved success in youth tournaments and national championships. For nearly 2 years now, Nhi Yen has been the No. 1 athlete in Vietnamese athletics with no rivals in the 100m and 200m distances.

Nhi Yen on the 4th track at the 2024 Paris Olympics

A historic milestone of Long An sports

For women's swimming, after her senior Anh Vien, with accumulated points through each tournament, My Tien has risen to become the No. 1 female swimming star in Vietnam. This has also helped My Tien win a special ticket to attend the 2024 Paris Olympics.

If My Tien's Olympic ticket was a long process of effort, for Nhi Yen, it is talent, qualities and personal efforts even though she has only been on the professional sports path for about 2 years.

At the age of 19, Nhi Yen has achieved desirable achievements such as ranking 6th in the 100m distance at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championship; entered the finals of the 100m and 200m races for women at the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China.

At the same time, with 5 cumulative results from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, along with being the only Vietnamese athletics athlete to have made it into the top 100 Olympic runners in the women's 100m event of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games qualifiers, Nhi Yen was chosen as the representative of Vietnamese at Paris Olympic.

With both My Tien and Nhi Yen winning tickets to the Olympics, it can be affirmed that this is a historic milestone for Long An sports. "Throughout the history of Long An sports development, this is the first time the province has had athletes participating in the Olympic Games" - Mr. Nguyen Bao Hoan affirmed.

Although My Tien and Nhi Yen did not compete successfully against the world's top athletes at the 2024 Olympics, being able to participate in the tournament is a proud achievement, an honor and an experience that any athlete dreams of.

"During the training and competition process, although the results this time were not as expected, I learned a lot of interesting things and had feelings I had never experienced when competing with the world champion and in a completely different arena compared to previous tournaments. This experience will help me gain more confident in the upcoming tournaments" - Nhi Yen said.

As for My Tien, she affirmed that participating in the Olympics is an important milestone in the athlete's life, an experience that is very difficult to come a second time in the competition career. "The most important thing is the experiences I have gained after participating in the Olympics. Those are very useful lessons that help me continue to be determined in training and competing, bringing glory to the province as well as the Fatherland" - My Tien shared.

After returning from the 2024 Paris Olympics, both My Tien and Nhi Yen have thrown themselves into the training process to improve their performance. In which, My Tien continues to train at the Can Tho National Sports Training Center while Nhi Yen trains at the Ho Chi Minh City National Sports Training Center.

According to Mr. Nguyen Bao Hoan, both My Tien and Nhi Yen are currently working very hard to prepare for two important tournaments this year. Of which, My Tien will participate in the National Swimming Championship held in October in Da Nang City, while Nhi Yen is preparing to participate in the National Athletics Championship in November.

“As for Nhi Yen, until the end of 2024, the Department of Sports and Physical Training, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will send her to train abroad to improve her performance" - Mr. Nguyen Bao Hoan added./.

A role model for young athletes According to the Director of Long An Sports Training and Competition Center - Nguyen Bao Hoan, compared to many other provinces and cities, the facilities and treatment for Long An athletes are not really commensurate. However, Long An athletes always strive and overcome difficulties to achieve high results for the province. My Tien and Nhi Yen winning tickets to attend the 2024 Paris Olympics in France will be an example and motivation for young athletes to make more efforts. The Sports sector will also continue to train and nurture talented athletes so that In the future, there will be more athletes making the province's sports famous.

By Nhat Minh - Translated by Q. Thien

Source: https://baolongan.vn/tu-hao-nhung-van-dong-vien-tham-du-the-van-hoi-olympic-a183334.html