Impressive moments

(Baonghean) - Although it has only been less than half way through, the 28th SEA Games has left behind extremely impressive moments with the performances of the athletes and the beautiful actions of Vietnamese fans in the hearts of international friends. Nghe An Newspaper would like to introduce some impressive moments at the 28th SEA Games…

"Queen" of the green track

With her relentless efforts, outstanding qualities, and the advantages that any athlete would want to possess such as good physical strength and an arm span 1.15 times longer than her body, Nguyen Thi Anh Vien is "breaking the ice" on the green track at the 28th SEA Games.

19-year-old swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien on the green track.

On the first day of competition (June 6), as expected, Nguyen Thi Anh Vien won 2 gold medals in the women's 800m freestyle and women's 400m medley, setting 2 new records. What is special is that the 2 SEA Games 28 records only took place within 30 minutes. For athletes competing in middle and long distance swimming, they need a lot of energy to complete the competition and they also need a lot of time to recover their physical strength. But for this swimmer, it only took her 30 minutes, an incredibly short number.

On the second day, Nguyen Thi Anh Vien continued to show her superiority on the green track in the Southeast Asian arena. The 18-year-old girl from Can Tho once again broke the SEA Games record in the women's 200m backstroke with a time of 2 minutes 14 seconds 12 to win her third gold medal, thereby breaking the record she set in Myanmar in 2013 with 2 minutes 14 seconds 80. Then Anh Vien finished first in the women's 200m medley, with a time of 2 minutes 13 seconds 53, thereby bringing home the fourth gold medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation. This is also a new record in the history of the SEA Games. The old record was set by Malaysian athlete Siow Yi Ting in Vientiane (Laos) 6 years ago with a time of 2 minutes 14 seconds 57... In each of her forte events, Anh Vien brought home a gold medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation and broke a SEA Games record. As of June 10, swimmer Anh Vien has won a total of 8 gold medals and broken 8 SEA Games records.

To comment on her, perhaps there is no more impressive word than the words from her opponent: "Oh my God, how can there be someone as good as Anh Vien" - Samantha Yeo, Singaporean swimmer.

22 years under the "foster brother's footsteps"

June 9 marked the end of a 22-year-old SEA Games record in the 5,000m race, and the athlete who made this miracle was Nguyen Van Lai. With a time of 14 minutes 4 seconds 82, Nguyen Van Lai successfully defended his gold medal in the 5,000m event and broke the SEA Games record of 14 minutes 8 seconds 97 set by Malaysian athlete Ramachandran Murusamy 22 years ago at the 1993 SEA Games in Singapore. The runner-up, Agus Prayogo (Indonesia), was more than 10 seconds behind Van Lai.

The lightning sprint of foster brother Nguyen Van Lai.

After finishing high school, he joined the army and was sent to attend the elementary cooking class for Battalion 3 - Military School of the 1st Corps. Although small in stature, he was healthy and passionate, he was sent to participate in army races and from there he became involved in middle and long distance running. At the age of 22, Nguyen Van Lai began his professional sports career.

Despite his "low starting point", after just over 6 years of training, in addition to his achievements in domestic competitions, at the end of 2013 at the 27th SEA Games, he excellently won 2 gold medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m events. Especially in the 28th SEA Games, although he has turned 29 - the age when he is no longer at his best for a long-distance runner, his miraculous sprint broke the 22-year-old record under the feet of his adopted brother - Captain Nguyen Van Lai.

Thao Anh