What direction should Nghe An's athletics take?
Having won numerous gold medals and national records in men's race walking, Nghe An's athletics team seems to have returned to square one in the last three years, as the next generation of athletes has failed to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors. The question of how to invest in Nghe An's young athletes remains one that requires more attention.
(Baonghean)Having won numerous gold medals and national records in men's race walking, Nghe An's athletics team seems to have returned to square one in the last three years, as the next generation of athletes has failed to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors. The question of how to invest in Nghe An's young athletes remains one that requires more attention.
Selection deadlock
Currently, the Nghe An athletics team has 37 athletes, divided into 4 specialized groups: women's short-distance, men's short-distance, middle-distance, and race walking. Of these, 30 athletes are under 20 years old, categorized into youth and prospective athlete groups. However, in recent years, the achievements of the youth athletics team have not been able to surpass those of previous years. At the National Youth Athletics Championships held in mid-March, the Nghe An youth athletics team only had 10 athletes participating and won 2 gold medals, while last year, at the same competition, the province sent 16 athletes and won 5 gold medals across all age groups.
According to Coach Nguyen Van Bang, Head of the Athletics Department at the Provincial Sports Training Center, the main reason is still the difficulty in selecting athletes, preventing young athletes from catching up with the achievements of previous athletes. Since 2012, the Provincial Sports Training Center has not allowed the opening of talent development classes (training classes for amateur athletes), so the selection process has been extremely difficult.
In the years leading up to 2011, the athletics department held 10 training courses annually to develop talent, and most of the athletes selected for the national team came from these courses. However, since last year, the selection of athletes for the national team has been limited to amateur athletics competitions throughout the province. Otherwise, the selection method is practically like "searching for a needle in a haystack," as coaches cannot go to each commune and district to recruit athletes. And even if amateur athletes are discovered from amateur athletics competitions, persuading them to join the national team is very difficult. "For example, at the recent provincial cross-country race, we discovered three very young athletes with suitable qualities, but only one agreed to join the national team," added Coach Nguyen Van Bang.
Athletes Nguyen Van Tu and Duong Cong Tin, two "gold medal hopes" in the men's race walking event.
Due to the limited number of athletes, in 2013, Nghe An's athletics team only registered to compete in four major competitions: the National Youth Athletics Championships, the Ho Chi Minh City International Athletics Open, the National Youth Championships, and the National Championships. Following the conclusion of the National Youth Athletics Championships, four young athletes from the Nghe An athletics team were called up to the national youth team to participate in the Southeast Asian Youth Athletics Championships in June: Luong Thi Nhat (race walking), Mai Quoc Viet (400m hurdles), Nguyen Thi Hien, and Nguyen Thi Thao (400m relay).
Financial difficulties
With training sessions of 1-2 per day, the 37 athletes of the Nghe An athletics team all live at the Provincial Sports Training Center and receive support from the provincial sports development budget. The support for athletes is structured into three levels: Athletes with the rank of Master (or those with gold medals at the annual National Championships) receive the highest support of 230,000 VND/day. The other two levels, Level 1 athletes and prospective athletes, receive 170,000 and 120,000 VND/day respectively. In addition, each athlete who wins a medal at national-level competitions receives prize money, but compared to the general standard, the amount of support for athletes at the Provincial Sports Training Center is still too low.
In the Nghe An athletics team, race walking is the sport with the most potential and receives the most investment for development. However, even in this sport, there have been cases of athletes having to leave due to insufficient financial support. This is the case of athlete Nguyen Xuan Dung, who achieved championship and broke the national record for three consecutive years from 2007 to 2009. Since Dung left the team, the next generation of athletes has been unable to surpass the achievements he set.
Currently, the men's race walking team only has two hopefuls: Nguyen Van Tu and Duong Cong Tin. In the women's race walking event, young athlete Luong Thi Nhat is also a promising athlete, having won gold medals at national youth competitions for the past two years. It's worth noting that Nhat is still receiving support under the Level 1 athlete program because she hasn't yet reached the Master Athlete level (as youth competitions don't include a 5000m event to qualify for Master Athlete status).
Speaking with us, Coach Nguyen Van Bang frankly shared: "I know that the province still faces many difficulties in terms of funding and investment for sports, but if the athletes received more attention and the support system was improved, they would focus more on training and strive harder in competitions, bringing high achievements to the province's sports."
Thai Anh