From an excellent student to the owner of a collection of 8 Taekwondo Gold Medals

Nguyen Thi Kim Anh has powerful yet graceful cross kicks. Photo: Duc Anh

During practice, Nguyen Thi Kim Anh (born 2002) was absorbed in beautiful punches, especially the powerful yet graceful cross kick. This female athlete said: “I came to Taekwondo by chance, and have achieved initial success. I think I will be loyal and pursue my passion for this martial art.”

Born and raised in Nghi Trung commune (Nghi Loc), Kim Anh's parents were civil servants, so they had many conditions to care for and take care of their children's education. Since childhood, she was famous for being a good student with 5 years of primary school as an excellent student, and in grades 6 and 7 as an advanced student.

In 2015, Kim Anh participated in a badminton tournament at the district level. The height and agility of the 8th grade girl caught the attention of the martial arts coaches of the Provincial Sports Training and Competition Center. After being convinced and receiving dedicated guidance from the coaches, she began to find her passion and determination to pursue Taekwondo, a martial art imported from Korea.

But with great determination, Kim Anh overcame all obstacles to practice hard, aiming for the goal of winning medals at tournaments. Photo: Duc Anh

But to pursue her passion, Kim Anh had to overcome many obstacles. First was the dissuasion of her parents, because her parents did not want their first daughter to follow the path of martial arts, they only wanted Kim Anh to focus on studying. Then the initial time away from home, away from her parents when she first moved to Vinh city to study at the provincial Sports and Physical Education Gifted School.

But with great determination, Kim Anh overcame all obstacles to practice hard, aiming for the goal of winning medals at tournaments. And less than a year later, she was trusted by the coaches to register for the National Taekwondo Competition for school-age children in the Northern region. Not disappointing the trust, Kim Anh tried to show her performance in each match and won the gold medal.

“The first time I participated in a competition, I couldn’t help but feel nervous and a bit worried. But then, with each match, I became more confident and finally reached the final. Before the final, I promised my teachers and family that I would try to win the gold medal, and I did it after 3 dramatic rounds,” Kim Anh shared.

The initial success was the motivation for Kim Anh to continue on the path of martial arts. Constantly practicing and learning from experience, this female athlete has made remarkable progress, showing in the following tournaments. At the 2017 National Youth Taekwondo Championship, Kim Anh excellently won the gold medal.

The initial success was the motivation for Kim Anh to continue on the path of martial arts. Photo: Duc Anh

Next, in 2018, 2019 and 2020, at the youth Taekwondo tournaments, athlete Nguyen Thi Kim Anh continuously stood on the podium to receive gold medals. To date, Kim Anh has won 8 gold medals at the National Youth Taekwondo tournaments, the National Strong Clubs Cup and the Southeast Asian Youth Taekwondo bronze medal.

Entering the 2020 National Youth Taekwondo Championship, Kim Anh was somewhat worried because her leg was injured during training. Therefore, during the competition, this female athlete often had to avoid strong collisions and limit her opponent's attacks. At the same time, promoting her physical strength, agility and dexterity, taking advantage of her opponent's weakness, Kim Anh finally reached the final match.

Kim Anh’s opponent in the final match was from An Giang team, with the same stature and technique. The match was fierce, at this time Kim Anh was no longer afraid of collision, continuously attacking with cross kicks to score points, finally winning the gold medal. Kim Anh confided: “My opponent was experienced, and knew my strengths and weaknesses, so I was determined to give my all in the competition. Winning this match was really a bit lucky…”.

When asked about the road ahead, Kim Anh shared: “I will continue to pursue Taekwondo, strive to test myself and win medals at major national and regional tournaments…”.

Nguyen Thi Kim Anh is an athlete with a high sense of discipline and a lot of experience in competition. If she is cared for, given the conditions to practice and participate in major tournaments, she will certainly achieve high results, contributing to the achievements of Nghe An sports...

Coach Dang Dinh Hung