Nguyen Thi Huyen competes to win the women's 400m hurdles event at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia last month. She will be one of Vietnam's representatives at the Asian Athletics Championship in Thailand. (Photo: VNA) "Wehave registered 16 athletes and six coaches to participate at the ThaiAsian Championship. The final list will be announced later," said NguyenManh Hung, General Secretary of the Vietnam Athletics Federation.
Among participants areSEA Games champions Nguyen Thi Huyen, Nguyen Thi Hang, Nguyen Thi Oanh andLuong Duc Phuoc.
After the Cambodian SEAGames, Huyen took a gold in the women's 400m hurdles at the Taiwan Openlast week. Hang won in the women's 400m while Phuoc was a champion in themen's 1,500m at the same event.
Oanh, who made historywith four golds at the Phnom Penh Games, withdrew from the Taiwan eventat the last minute. Her coaches wanted Oanh to remain in Vietnam to trainfor other events including the upcoming continental championship.
The Asian event isexpected to see the participation of almost all of the strongest competitorswho aim to prepare in the Asian Games in September in China and securetheir berths at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
It will be the firsttime that Thailand will host the championships since its inception in 1973 andwill be by far the largest athletics event ever organised and held in thecountry.
"Thailand ishonoured to be selected by the Asian Athletics Federation (AAA) to host the25th Asian Athletics Championships,” said Sun Sarutanont, President of theAthletics Association of Thailand.
“It is a privilege forthe country to host the event for the first time ever, something made extraspecial considering this year marks the official 50th anniversary of the AAA, alandmark occasion,” he added.
The championships will be held at National Stadium in Bangkokand will serve as the qualification stage for athletes hoping to participate atthe 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, fromAugust 19- 27.
It will also serve as an important pre-cursor to athletes who arestriving to secure national team qualification and participation at the 2024Olympic Games in Paris, France, next year.
It is the first time the Asian Athletics Championships has beenheld since 2019 after the COVID-19 pandemic forced cancellation of the 2021event in Hangzhou, China.
In other athletics news, four Vietnamese athletes will jointhe 20th Asian U20 Championships 2023 that is taking place from June 4-7in Yecheon, the Republic of Korea.
The tournament is taking place after three years becauseof the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among Vietnamese, Nguyen Quoc Thinh will compete in the men's highjump, Ha Thi Thuy Hang in the women's long jump, Le Thi Thanh Nga in thewomen's 3,000m steeplechase and Bui Thị Kim Anh in the women's high jumpevents.
All of them took part in the National Sports Games last Decemberin Hanoi and earned remarkable results.
Thinh took a silver with his personal best of 2.12m. Nga bagged abronze in her category with a time of 11min 5.01sec. Hang placed seventh in hercompetition debut with a 5.60m jump. Kim Anh ranked fifth with a result of1.74m.
Athletes arrive in the RoK on June 2 and will have two days ofpractise before their competitions.
Locally, the National Athletics Championship will be organised in Octoberin Hanoi. It is an early event for Vietnamese athletes in preparationfor the 33rd SEA Games and qualifications for the 2024 Olympics.
According to the Vietnam Athletics Federation, 50 events will beorganised from October 20-28 at the Mieu Mon Sport Training Centre.
There are 24 events each for men and women in running, jumping andthrowing, and two mixed events.
Outstanding athletes will be lifted to the national teams forinternational tournaments.
The National Age Groups Athletics Championship will be organisedon June 15-25 in Ben Tre province.
Athletes will compete for 86 sets of medals in three agegroups of 12-13, 14-15 and 16-17./.
VNA
