What hope for Vietnamese sports at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?

Of course, no one can be satisfied or content when they are qualified to enter the Olympic arena, that they are just there to learn, to gain experience, just for fun. On the contrary, the destination for themselves must be to defeat their opponents, to defeat themselves, to be able to win medals, knowing that the future is extremely difficult and arduous, but not without opportunity at some point.

Vietnam delegation at the opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Tokyo Olympics 2020This time, 30 sports with more than 50 sub-events will be organized. The Vietnamese Sports Delegation (VSD) with 18 members registered for 11 sports with 20 events. The biggest hope is focused on weightlifting, along with the hope of surprise names from other sports.

It is known that after 4 decades of participating in the Olympics since the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Vietnam has only won 5 medals, in which shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh is the only athlete to win a gold medal and a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics; boxer Tran Hieu Ngan won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, weightlifter Hoang Anh Tuan won a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics and boxer Tran Le Quoc Toan won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

Citing the modest results of Vietnam Sports Delegation above, we can say that the Olympic dream is difficult, but the dream of winning a medal is even more difficult. Why do the leaders of the Vietnam Sports Delegation continue to hope for a weightlifting event, when men's weightlifting has won a silver medal, while shooting has won a gold medal, while bright potential SEA Games talents like Anh Vien, Huy Hoang... are not expected much?

First of all, in the women's weightlifting category, there is hope because Hoang Thi Duyen in the 59 kg category is ranked third in terms of achievements among the participating athletes, and has just won the Asian gold medal, so she is quite confident to compete well, surpass and achieve the expected results. Meanwhile, in the men's weightlifting category with Thach Kim Tuan, there is even more hope because he is always in the top of the world in the 61 kg category, having qualified in the 3rd place.

Anh Vien will compete in the women's 200m freestyle.

With shooting and the return of Hoang Xuan Vinh, there is perhaps less hope as after the historic gold medal, this shooter could not maintain his high form and this time came to the Olympics as an invitee. With swimming, Anh Vien, although very excellent in the region and continent, has passed the boom period, especially with the Olympics, the difficulties are even more severe. Hopefully, if we look at Huy Hoang when he was young, he would have made a bigger breakthrough…

The sport considered number 1 at the Olympics is football, unfortunately Vietnam is still... on the sidelines. U23 Vietnam once won a silver medal in Changzhou, a gold medal at the SEA Games or 4th place at the ASIAD, but because of the failure in the Asian Olympic qualifying round in Thailand (2 draws, 1 loss), they had to pack their bags and go home. However, with the silver medal in Asia, if U23 Vietnam continues to maintain and improve its achievements, being in the top 3 teams is possible and a ticket to the Olympics will soon become a reality in the near future. With women's football, the Vietnamese team has more difficulties when going through many rounds and facing many strong opponents, so hope is still far away, as far away as the path to the World Cup of the current men's football team.

Shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh competes in the 10m air pistol event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. (Photo: Getty Images)

It is easy to see that individual sports bring more hope to the Olympics than team sports such as football, if there is no tradition and outstanding achievements. Each Olympic is a period of continuous striving of the Vietnamese sports, of each coach and athlete. Few but the real peak, so it is necessary to be more diligent, long-term, extraordinary and have a solid foundation. The joy of Hoang Xuan Vinh will not be the only victory, the only gold medal of the Vietnamese sports at the Olympics, hopefully that will gradually become a reality.