Poor family background of the 'Golden Boy' of athletics

(Baonghean) - In the 2016 National Phu Dong Sports Festival held in Thanh Hoa City, Tran Van Nam, class 9B, Thanh Ha Secondary School (Thanh Chuong) won a gold medal in the 1000m track and field event. He is a poor student who overcame difficulties to achieve his dream of becoming a professional athlete.

Nam said: She is the one who encourages me a lot in my studies.

Nam is the youngest in a family of 5 siblings. Nam's family is very poor, so his eldest brother had to drop out of school after graduating from secondary school to work for a living and help his parents raise his younger siblings. The next sister also died of a serious illness. The second sister is nearly 30 years old but is constantly sick. Every month, she has to go to the hospital 3 times to get checked and buy medicine for anemia. Her older brother, Tran Van Dong (1996), is disabled.

There were times when the family was so hungry that their relatives had to take Dong home to raise him for a few years. As for Nam's father, he had a mental illness. When he was sober, he tried to help Nam and her mother with the farming, but there was always someone accompanying him to help him when he suddenly got sick. One day, he went to work alone until late at night and still hadn't returned. The whole village went looking for him with torches and found Nam's father unconscious lying in the field.

Nam's mother is also often sick. Ironically, Nam's grandmother, over 81 years old, is the main breadwinner in the family. Knowing that his family's circumstances are difficult and he does not have the same living and studying conditions as his other friends, Nam always tries his best to overcome them. Without the opportunity to attend extra classes, nor enough time to focus on studying, Nam's academic performance is only average.

Knowing his academic ability, Nam was determined to improve his physical fitness and make efforts in his physical education classes. Nam thought that if he got good results, he would definitely enter the Physical Education School and later, if he had a stable job, he would be able to help his parents. Thinking and doing, Nam woke up quite early every day to run a lap around the neighborhood, running a little at first and then gradually increasing his speed, so Nam always got high scores in his physical education classes. When he was selected for the provincial team to compete, the teachers expected and encouraged Nam to stay calm and practice the techniques he had learned.

Outside of school, at home Nam is a reliable support for his mother and grandmother in everything.

Entering the competition, Nam always told himself that he had to be determined to win and bring home achievements so that after graduation he could take the entrance exam to the University of Physical Education and Sports. Facing competitors with tall and strong physiques, the will to win and overcome all difficulties helped Nam win the Gold Medal, bringing glory to the Provincial Olympic Team.

Nam did not disappoint his teachers, family and friends. Teacher Tran Thi Duong - Nam's homeroom teacher said: Nam's family is very poor in all aspects, but he is a very conscientious student in his studies, always striving to improve, although his achievements are only average, but his morality, character and will to improve make his teachers love him and his friends admire him..."

Talking about Tran Van Nam's family, Mr. Hoang Cao Phon - Chairman of the Commune People's Committee expressed concern: the commune government also cares a lot about Nam's family. However, there is no main laborer in the family, the father and siblings are all sick, so it is very difficult to escape poverty. When we learned that Nam won the gold medal in athletics, we were also happy and hoped that he would try harder in his talent competition to go further, and later on, he might have a chance to escape poverty...

Hopefully, the first National Gold Medal that Nam received will be a stepping stone for Nam to make more efforts and try harder to have the opportunity to achieve his dream of becoming a professional athlete.

Ha Linh