Story about the flag bearer for the Vietnamese Sports Delegation at the 29th SEA Games

(Baonghean.vn) - According to information from the General Department of Sports and Physical Training, fencer Vu Thanh An will have the honor of being the flag bearer for the Vietnamese Sports Delegation at the 29th SEA Games. This is a personal honor for athlete Thanh An and for the Vietnamese fencing team.

The flag bearer's mark

As usual, the selection of the flag bearer for the Vietnamese Sports Delegation at the Games is very carefully chosen. In addition to competition achievements and good looks, many other secondary criteria must also be taken into account.

At the 28th SEA Games, the flag bearer for the Vietnamese Sports Delegation was track and field athlete Quach Cong Lich. At this year’s SEA Games in Malaysia, that great responsibility was given to fencer Vu Thanh An.

Swordsman Vu Thanh An. Photo: Internet

With an ideal height of 1m87, a bright face and very proud achievements, Vu Thanh An was chosen by the sports industry leaders to be the flag bearer for the Vietnamese Sports Delegation in the opening ceremony of the 29th SEA Games.

At the 28th SEA Games, Vu Thanh An made a remarkable mark with 2 gold medals in the individual and team sabre events. That year, he also won the gold medal in the U23 Asian sabre event. In 2016, Thanh An brought great honor to Vietnamese fencing by winning the bronze medal at the Asian Championship in China for the first time and then the honor of becoming one of the 4 fencers to qualify for the Rio Olympics. There, Thanh An was the flag bearer for the Vietnamese sports delegation at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

At the age of 15, Vu Thanh An started to learn the sword. After 10 years of hard work on the training floor, he is now one of the most promising names in Vietnamese sword fighting. Before reaching such a spectacular achievement, An had to go through 8 years of "empty-handed" in all international tournaments. 4 years ago, he was so discouraged that he decided to retire, but thanks to the encouragement of his coaches and friends, he persevered in training.

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The Vietnamese fencing team participating in the 29th SEA Games consists of 12 athletes, 5 coaches, including 3 foreign experts. At the 28th SEA Games, fencing was one of the earliest competitions and the team brought home the first gold medal for the Vietnamese delegation.

At the same time, it is one of the 5 events that won the most gold medals for the Vietnamese delegation with 8 gold medals, 2 silver medals, and 1 bronze medal. In particular, the team events alone won 4 gold medals in men's sabre team, men's sabre team, women's sabre team, and women's sabre team.

Vietnam fencing team at SEA Games 28 with 8 gold medals, 2 silver medals, 1 bronze medal. Photo: Internet

Host country Malaysia has sent troops abroad for long-term training to take the No. 1 position in Southeast Asia from Vietnamese fencing.

Normally, in major world sports events, fencing always has 12 sets of medals. But at the 29th SEA Games, the host country cut 6 sets of medals in the men's and women's team events. Therefore, fencers in the region only compete for 6 sets of individual medals in the sabre (men, women), sabre (men, women) and rapier (men, women).

At the 29th SEA Games, Vietnamese fencing set a target of winning 3 gold medals, or half of the total number of gold medals at the Games. The biggest hope for winning gold medals still rests on the two defending champions from 2 years ago in Singapore, Vu Thanh An (sabre) and Nguyen Tien Nhat (sabre).

Besides, runner-up Nguyen Minh Quang (sword) and Nguyen Thi Nhu Hoa (three-edged sword)… are in very good form and are also Vietnam's golden hopes.

Before leaving for Malaysia, fencer Vu Thanh An shared: "It is difficult to predict anything when the congress has not yet taken place, but through the international tournaments I have participated in this year, I believe I will continue to win gold medals at this SEA Games."

AT