The bumpy road to the Olympics

(Baonghean) - At a meeting on July 2nd to discuss focusing investment on key sports for the Olympics, the leaders of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training stated: The goal of the sports sector is to strive to have 16-23 athletes qualify for the Olympics. Compared to the 2012 Olympics, this "target" number is quite safe and unchanged, because at the 2012 Olympics we also had 18 athletes participating in 5 basic sports (gymnastics, swimming, shooting, weightlifting and athletics).

Preparing an athlete to compete in the Olympics is a meticulous and systematic process, requiring significant investment of time and money. And it seems this remains a challenging arena for our athletes. Remember, at the 2012 Olympics, while Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, etc., all won gold and silver medals, our athletes returned empty-handed. Meanwhile, at the SEA Games, we consistently rank among the top three strongest teams. Recently, the 28th SEA Games was considered the most successful ever for Vietnamese sports, with us almost dominating in several disciplines such as gymnastics, swimming, shooting, and athletics. However, among the athletes who broke SEA Games 28 records, only Anh Vien, Nguyen Thi Huyen, and Hoang Xuan Vinh have met the Olympic qualifying standards and are virtually guaranteed a ticket to the biggest sporting event on the planet, to be held in Brazil in 2016.

Ánh Viên's outstanding performance in the 400m freestyle earned her the Olympic A qualifying standard. (Image: internet)

According to experts, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and others have recently won Olympic medals thanks to a sound sports development strategy. They focus their investment on a few Olympic sports, rather than being overly enthusiastic about the SEA Games. Meanwhile, we are still trying to do too much. Besides the 10 key sports aiming for the Olympics, Vietnamese sports also invest in 20 sports considered "Group 2 key sports." This scattered investment has led to athletes with the potential to compete for medals at the Olympics not receiving adequate attention. This approach has led to a paradox: while we dominate at the SEA Games as much as we do at the Olympics, we are not as good as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.

With the current number of athletes, the path to the Olympic medal podium seems too long and too arduous for our athletes until the 2016 Olympics. Nevertheless, we still hope that more Vietnamese athletes will have the opportunity to participate in the Olympic arena, and perhaps some of them will bring home medals for the country. At the meeting on July 2nd, the leaders of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training stated: "Within the next year, key athletes will receive maximum investment in overseas training, hiring foreign experts, and participating in competitions to meet the qualifying standards for the 2016 Olympics."

Duc Dung