The medal winning story of the 'golden' boy of Nghe An wrestling village

A love affair with traditional objects

Nam Thanh Commune -Nam Danis one of the cradles of traditional wrestling in Nghe An. Born and raised here, wrestling has been ingrained in Nguyen Ba Luc's mind since he was very young. Every Tet holiday, my hometown organizes many traditional festivals, includingfolkloreloved and awaited by many people.

The boy from Nam Dan, when he was not yet 10 years old, was taught the basic techniques of wrestling by his grandparents and parents. Thanks to inheriting the genes left by his grandparents and parents, Luc showed his talent in wrestling rings from a young age and was always the champion every time wrestling festivals were held.

“Back then, every year at the beginning of the year, the people in my village excitedly went to watch the wrestling festival. Being able to compete for the villagers to see was a great feeling, especially when I won a high prize and was cheered by everyone. I always felt proud. It was also because of living in that environment that I always wanted to become a professional wrestler in the future,” Luc recalled.

The final match of the 2018 National Wrestling Championship of Nguyen Ba Luc. Photo: NVCC

Nam Dan is the cradle of Nghe An ethnic wrestling, so every time there is a wrestling tournament, the coaches of Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center come back to find talented athletes to recruit into the center. In 2008, when the wrestling tournament was held in Nam Thanh commune. At that year's tournament, Luc had an excellent performance and won many high prizes. Realizing that this was a potential athlete, the coaches quickly invited and recruited Luc to the training center, hoping that he would become a professional wrestler. With a burning passion for wrestling, when selected by the coaches, Luc did not hesitate to accept.

During the first days of training at the center, Luc always showed his efforts and diligence in training. The young man from Nam Dan was evaluated by the coaches as an athlete with quickness and good tactical thinking. However, Luc also had many weaknesses such as lack of endurance, strength, long jump... Wanting to become a more outstanding athlete than others, the young man from Nam Dan was always the one who was willing to leave the training floor the latest.

Nguyen Ba Luc said: “Ethnic wrestling is a sport that combines many factors from endurance, strength, and thinking. However, at that time, I was not a person with a muscular body or good health, so every day I had to spend a lot of time to increase my physical strength by practicing weightlifting and endurance running. There is a saying of Mr. Nghia that has always been my motivation: "Only by sweating a lot on the training floor can I achieve good results in the future."

After more than a year of training in late 2009, at the national youth wrestling tournament held in Bac Giang, although the training time was not long and he did not have much competition experience, Nguyen Ba Luc went through many resilient matches and won the final Bronze Medal.

It seemed that the road to success for the athlete born in 1995 would not be far away, but suddenly Luc suffered a pelvic injury. That injury left him immobile, unable to leave his bed for 2 months. There was a time when Luc wanted to retire, give up his passion, but after a long treatment process and tireless efforts, Luc was able to return.

Memorable achievements

After overcoming a serious injury, Nguyen Ba Luc returned and won many medals in national tournaments. But the tournament that Luc remembers the most, leaving pride for himself and his family, is the National Wrestling Championship held in 2018 in his hometown. In that tournament, Luc excelled and won a Gold Medal in the 70kg weight class. Before the tournament was held, the athlete born in 1995 had set a very high determination: "I want to make Nam Dan wrestling land famous when the tournament is held in the land where I was born".

Before that tournament, Luc was given many different training plans by the coaches, many techniques and tactics were added and refined to bring the most optimal fighting moves for Luc. But the most difficult obstacle that Luc had to overcome was the weight loss process. Luc recalled: “I competed in the 70kg weight class, but before the tournament I weighed 76kg, so I had to try hard to lose 6kg. To lose that much weight, in addition to having to wear a warm coat and run in the nearly 40-degree weather, I had to go through a very difficult process of fasting and abstaining from food and water. Because of that, there were nights when I had stomach pains that made me cry and couldn’t sleep. That was a difficult obstacle that I overcame.”

The Organizing Committee awarded the Gold Medal to athlete Nguyen Ba Luc at the 2018 National Wrestling Championship. Photo: NVCC

The tournament held at home created an exciting psychological state for Luc. He won convincing victories to reach the final match. “That day, with the encouragement of my relatives and family, I set my mind to win. The decisive blow was my specialty of holding the loincloth. In all the past matches, any opponent whose loincloth I held would definitely lose. And in the final match, I did that and won the overall victory.”

Winning the Gold Medal in his homeland is a great honor and pride for Nguyen Ba Luc. He not only brings pride to himself and to the province's sports, but also brings honor to his family. Luc shared: "I burst into tears of joy when all my family, friends, and neighbors came to congratulate me. This is the most memorable tournament in my career, and will be a beautiful memory in my athlete life."

In 2020, Luc continued to reap another Gold Medal to add to his impressive achievements. Now that he has made his mark in the wrestling world, Luc wants to share his experiences to pass on to the younger generation. Luc hopes that they will strive every day to bring glory to themselves and to the province's sports.

Duc Anh