The 'flowers' of high-performance sports in Nghe An

Dedicated Athletics Coach

Among the high-performance female sports coaches at Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center, Ms. Ha Thi Kim Anh - Head of Athletics Department is one of the most veteran and successful.

Born in 1976 in Son Thinh commune (now An Hoa Thinh commune), Huong Son district, Ha Tinh province, in 1990, after winning the Gold Medal in Athletics at the Phu Dong Sports Festival of Nghe Tinh province, Ha Thi Kim Anh was selected to join the Provincial Sports Training Center. During the 9 years (1990 - 1998) as a high-performance athlete of Nghe Tinh province in the past and Nghe An province today, Ha Thi Kim Anh won many medals of all kinds in youth competitions, national championships, national sports festivals... In 1994, while still competing, she was sent to study Sports Training at the Central College of Sports 3 (now Da Nang University of Sports).

In 1999, after retiring from competition, she switched to coaching, and was assigned the task of “panning for gold” among students in athletics. In 2014, after veteran coach Nguyen Van Bang retired, she was appointed Head of the Athletics Department of Nghe An Sports Training and Coaching Center (now Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center). Since then, the province’s athletics department has gradually improved.

In particular, from 2018 to present, the achievements of Nghe An athletes have improved significantly in both youth tournaments and national championships, with names such as Nguyen Dinh Vu, To Thi Nga, Luong Thi Mui, Kha Thi Thanh Truc,Le Thi Tuyet Mai… The most prominent of these are Kha Thi Thanh Truc with the Silver Medal at the 32nd SEA Games, the Gold Medal at the 9th National Sports Festival; Le Thi Tuyet Mai with 4 Gold Medals at the 2023 Southeast Asian Youth Athletics Championship…

Currently, the athletics department of Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center has 31 athletes, of which 20 are female athletes. Understanding the difficulties of female athletes when pursuing a high-performance sports career, coach Ha Thi Kim Anh not only directly guides them professionally, but also cares about their lives as a mother.

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“When women participate in sports training and competition, they face many difficulties and pressures such as physical condition, family... For example, in 2022, during the training process with the team to prepare for the 9th National Sports Festival, I had to be away from home for 5 months, even though at that time my first child was in 8th grade and my second child was only in 3rd grade. Therefore, I try to be as close to the female athletes as possible to both advise and encourage them to practice and compete to achieve the best results.

Ms. Ha Thi Kim Anh - Head of Athletics Department (Nghe An Province Sports Training and Competition Center).

Aspiring diver

Possessing a pretty face and a lovely smile, from 2022 to present, diver Nguyen Thi Tu Anh is one of the outstanding young female athletes of Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center.

Also born in Huong Son district, Ha Tinh province, but due to family circumstances, Nguyen Thi Tu Anh (born in 2007) has lived with her grandparents in Quang Trung ward (Vinh city) since childhood. In 2017, when she had just finished 4th grade at Quang Trung Primary School, during the summer vacation, Nguyen Thi Tu Anh was sent by her grandparents to learn swimming at the swimming pool of Nghe An Sports Training and Coaching Center (now Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center). Here, Tu Anh was discovered and recruited into the center by coach Le Xuan Cuong.

In 2020, Tu Anh was tested in her first tournament, the National Club Swimming Championship in Thanh Hoa province. At this tournament, the 13-year-old girl won 4 Gold Medals, 1 Silver Medal, 1 Bronze Medal, thereby achieving the level of high-performance athlete 1.

At the end of 2021, Tu Anh made a turning point when she switched from swimming to diving. “Coach Cuong told me that because my body was a bit heavy in the lower limbs, it would be very difficult for me to develop higher achievements in swimming. He also suggested that I switch to diving training. I had seen my seniors in the diving department practice and found it very interesting, so I quickly agreed,” Nguyen Tu Anh said.

In June 2022, after half a year of switching to diving training, Nguyen Thi Tu Anh participated in her first tournament in this sport, the National Age Group Swimming and Diving Championship held in Thua Thien Hue province. At this tournament, Tu Anh won 3 Gold Medals, 1 Silver Medal, 2 Bronze Medals, including breaking the National record in the 50m distance. In July 2022, at the National Youth Swimming and Diving Championship held in Da Nang, Tu Anh also won 1 Gold Medal and 2 Bronze Medals. These achievements made Tu Anh more determined to stick with diving.

2023 was a year of great success for Nguyen Thi Tu Anh with impressive achievements in domestic tournaments, in the 50m, 100m, 200m and 100m inflatable. In the 6 tournaments that this female athlete participated in, she won 5 Gold Medals, including 2 Gold Medals at the National Swimming and Diving Championship for Excellent Athletes, 4 Gold Medals at the National Swimming and Diving Club Championship. The remaining tournaments that Tu Anh won Gold Medals were the National Swimming and Diving Championship for 25m pools and the National Swimming and Diving Championship for Age Groups. In addition, there were many Silver Medals and Bronze Medals.

Impressive achievements in domestic tournaments helped Tu Anh be called up to the National Youth Team to compete inAsian Junior Diving Championship2023 held in Thailand. In her first time participating in an international tournament, Tu Anh competed very calmly and confidently and won 3 Gold Medals and 1 Bronze Medal.

In 2024, up to this point, Nguyen Thi Tu Anh is also one of the most successful athletes of Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center when she won 5 Gold Medals, 1 Silver Medal, 1 Bronze Medal at the National Club Swimming Championship; 3 Silver Medals at the National Youth Swimming Championship; 3 Bronze Medals at the National Swimming Championship. "Due to the nature of the sport, which requires a lot of outdoor training on hot days, causing the skin to darken, I am still determined to stick with this sport for a long time and try to win more achievements, especially at regional, continental and world tournaments," Nguyen Thi Tu Anh shared.