Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnamese athletes are working hard to secure asecond slot in gymnastics at the coming Olympics in Tokyo this year.

Le Thanh Tung qualified last October and multi-time SEA Games champion Dinh PhuongThanh has been tipped to win the second spot.

In 2021, if the COVID-19 pandemic is well under control, there will be variouscompetitions held, including the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Qatar in March,the Asian Championship in Japan in May and the Artistic Gymnastics WorldChallenge Cup in Bulgaria in May.

“Currently, we have a ‘ticket’ via Tung. We are practising for importantevents, especially the Asian championship and we focus on the men’s all-roundevent. This is the biggest chance for us to take the second slot,” said coachTruong Minh Sang.

“Our best athletes in this category including Dinh Phuong Thanh will beparticipating. Thanh is our top hope.”

Thanh is a leading gymnast in the region and pocketed gold medals in two eventsat the 30th SEA Games. In total, the 25-year-old has grabbed six golds and twosilvers in individual events in the last three SEA Games. He made history asthe first Vietnamese won a title in the all-round at the 2015 Games.

TheHanoian is much better in the parallel bars as he won a bronze medal at theAsian Games in 2014 and has had no regional rival at the SEA Games since 2015.He also won a gold at the World Challenge Cup ART in Slovenia in 2018.

Sang said his team have started training with a focus on improving theirbasic technique and hard moves.

“Apart from technique, nice poses are really important in gymnastics. When wepractise basic skills we have time to perfect our moves and poses which willwin high points,” Sang said.

The gymnastics athletes, especially the women, are also looking for goldsat the coming SEA Games in Hanoi.

The men’s team are still one of the strongest in ASEAN, but youth training hasbeen a big focus for years and after the recent national championship, a newgeneration was discovered.

Among them, Nguyen Van Khanh Phong, 18, has great potential in the rings event.

Vietnam have dominated the rings for several SEA Games but golden athlete Dang Namdecided to retire in late 2019, leaving a big hole in the team.

However, Phong’s outstanding performance to take gold at the nationaltournament made people believe in a bright future.

“Previously, Phong could not compare with his seniors. But he is different thisyear and he did a really good job. His moves are more beautiful and lookmore powerful,” said coach Sang.

However, he said while Phong is full of energy, he's still young andpressure shouldn't be heaped on him.

“He still needs to sharpen his skills and compete in more competitions tostrengthen his abilities and mind. We should build up a stable foundationbefore thinking about victory,” he said.

“Nam is my idol. He is a mirror that I will look at to strive for. I will workharder to reach his level and then pass him,” said Phong who will make his SEAGames debut later this year.

“I hope I can defend SEA Games (rings) gold medal of Vietnam, and then I willlook at the Olympics,” said Phong who won three golds at the World Cup forjuniors in Hungary and placed eighth at the Youth Olympics in 2018.

“The rate of difficulty in my performance is not as high as others in the worldtournament. But I will work on it every day to make it equal.”

Other promising male athletes include Van Vy Luong, Trinh Hai Khang and Tran DinhVuong.

“They have shown their great progress through the national championship. Theyare good in both technique and competition mind,” said Bui Trung Thien, head ofthe Gymnastics Department of the National Sports Administration.

The women’s team also has new faces, aiming to restore the team toglory after being absent from the top podium at the last two SEA Games.

“Due to COVID-19, we lost all opportunities to compete in 2020 but we had timeto pay attention to practice. It helped perfect our moves and improveour technique a lot,” said coach Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy.

“We have registered to participate in tournaments in the first months of thisyear. They are important warm-ups for us ahead of the SEA Games. We areexpecting to win a gold medal, the first of this young generation, at thisGames on home turf,” she said./.