Runner Nguyễn Thị Oanh won three gold medals at the recent National Athletics Championships 2024 and the first person she celebrated the win with was coach Nguyễn Văn Sỹ, who has been with her since 2012 and has helped her win a huge collection of titles regionally and continentally.
“I first saw Oanh at a tournament for juniors in 2012. She was a tiny-size runner but showed her strong will on the track. I believed that she would develop well if receiving good support and training," Sỹ recalled.
Coach Nguyễn Văn Sỹ and his runner Nguyễn Thị Oanh. The duo has dominated in regional track routes for three SEA Games editions. Photo nongnghiep.vn
He is not only a trainer, but also acts like a father to Oanh, taking care of her in practice, when she was sick with a kidney infection, glomerulonephritis, helping her returning to the running track.
"Sỹ is a tough trainer, always asking me to do every job the best, especially working to improve my endurance. He never allows us to rest or gets distracted when we have not completed our session," said Oanh.
Under his coaching, Oanh won 3,000m steeplechase bronze in the Assian Games in 2018 in Indonesia and a 1,500m gold in the Asian Indoor Athletics Championship in 2023.
She won a hattrick of golds at the two consecutive SEA Games in 2019 and 2022, before making history with four golds, including two medals in just 30 minutes at the SEA Games 2023.
Apart from Oanh, Sỹ also takes care Nguyễn Trung Cường who won SEA Games men's 3,000m steeplechase gold and Phạm Thị Hồng Lệ who took SEA Games 10,000m gold among others.
Sỹ however is humble and says in the face of his records, he only tries to do his job best, winning or not, and that depended on how hard working and determination of his athletes during their training and competition.
In another stand of Đồng Nai Stadium, 60-year-old coach Vũ Ngọc Lợi was watching his runner Quách Thị Lan taking part in the 400m hurdles event.
Coach Nguyễn Văn Lợi and 100m hurdles runner Nguyễn Thị Nguyên
He clicked the stopwatch in hand to check Lan's time and was happy as she met his requirement and won a gold medal.
“I am happy with her result. It is not because of her title but I see that she has found her competitive instinct. She has not run this event for long time because of the international 18-month ban due to doping," said Lợi.
"She just practised with the hurdles for three months prior to this championships and she ran well enough to win a gold."
Lan has long been recognised as a great national runner for Việt Nam, as she is a speedy and streamlined runner. Before the unexpected ban, she won Việt Nam Asian Games' 400m hurdles gold and Asian championships' 400m, 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay.
For coach Trần Đoàn Minh Thiện, the 2024 national championship was the best of his career, with his runner Hoàng Nguyên Thanh achieving success, taking a gold in the men's 10,000m which was not his favoured distance.
Thanh is national marathon champion, but decided to test his skill in the shorter distance this year and he did better than expectations, leaving behind a defending champion and other title favourites.
"Running in the stadium is very different from a road race. But we did prepare well and due to many other favourable conditions he made it. Well done!" Thiện said. "It is his great effort and we are both happy with the gold."
In the other corner of the stadium, coach Nguyễn Văn Lợi talked to with his two runners Huỳnh Thị Mỹ Tiên and Nguyễn Thị Nguyên who later would take part in the women's 100m hurdles.
Lợi has taken charge of this short distance with hurdles at the national team for nearly 25 years.
"I was really confused in the first days working as a coach. But through my passion with athletics and responsibility with runners I have tried my best to help them bring home victories," said Lợi.
Lợi kept his promise, producing many famous runners such as Lê Thanh Phong, Đào Văn Cường and Nguyễn Ngọc Quang. And now, he is looking after two of the best regional runners.
Nguyên won gold at the 31st SEA Games, while Tiên is the reigning champion after she took gold in the 32nd edition last year.
“It is not easy to train two champions at the same time as because each has her own personality. I have to know them, grasp their thoughts and even emotion to combine with training plans," Lợi said.
"We also have to encourage and push their spirit and determination to get achieve high efficiency in our work.
“Next year, we will compete in the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand. We will have to prepare to defend our titles. We have no time to rest," he said.
VNS