Can Vietnam Triathlon win gold at SEA Games 31?

New sport introduced to Vietnam more than 5 years

Triathlon is a combination of 3 basic sports: swimming, cycling and running. This sport has many different distances, from very short such as Sprint (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run), Olympic (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run) to super long distances like Ironman (3.8km swim, 180km bike ride, 42.2km marathon). In major sports events such as the Olympics, ASIAD or SEA Games, the standard distance is Olympic. There are many triathlon tournament systems in the world such as Ironman, Challenge Family, Tri-Factor, ITU World Triathlon Series, etc.

Triathlon has just been introduced to Vietnam and has been known for more than 5 years. Vietnam has organized triathlon competitions such as Ironman 70.3 Vietnam, Challenge Vietnam, Tri-Factor, Sunset Bay Triathlon in the coastal cities of Da Nang, Nha Trang, Vung Tau and Tuan Chau (Quang Ninh). In 2019, Vietnam is the host of the Asia Pacific Ironman 70.3 Vietnam Championship in Da Nang, attracting thousands of athletes (who are dubbed “iron man”) around the world to participate. , including the world number 1 athlete Patrick Lange. Currently, the number of Vietnamese athletes playing this new sport has reached thousands.

Triathlon Vietnam with the goal of changing the color of the medal after a surprise success in the Philippines

As a result of this rapid development, Vietnam first registered to participate in the triathlon competition at SEA Games 30 with the goal of exchanging, learning and rubbing. In addition to athletes who have been in a well-known professional environment, the triathlon team also includes athletes from the “horizontal hand” movement such as Cao Ngoc Ha, Nguyen Tien Hung, Tran Nhan… Funding for the team recruiting triathlon to participate in SEA Games from socialization sources.

In the Philippines, the Vietnamese triathlon team performed more successfully than expected. Nguyen Thi Phuong Trinh suddenly won a bronze medal in the duathlon (running – cycling – running). The Gia Lai female triathlete used to specialize in both cycling and athletics. From an unknown athlete in cycling, Phuong Trinh transformed, jumped to practice triathlon and got initial results.

At the 31st SEA Games, the triathlon will take place at Tuan Chau tourist area (Quang Ninh) on May 14 and 15. Faced with the opportunity to play at home in Vietnam, the triathlon players are determined to change the color of Phuong Trinh’s bronze despite many difficulties and challenges. In the past two years, the players lacked international competition due to the Covid-19 epidemic. Before focusing on preparing for the SEA Games, the athletes mostly practiced under the online guidance of Singaporean expert Loo Chuan Rong.

This is the SEA Games with the most medal sets (4 sets) since the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar. This shows the integration of Vietnamese sports even though triathlon is not yet a strong sport in the region. The Vietnamese team competed with 22 members, including 11 players: Lam Quang Nhat (former swimmer of the national team who won 2 SEA Games gold medals), Trinh Vu Anh Huy, Quach Hoang Viet, Nguyen Anh Tri, Pham Tien San (former track and field athlete of the national team who won 3 silver medals at SEA Games), Ha Van Nhat, Nguyen Thi Tra My, Nguyen Thi Hiep, Nguyen Thu Trang, Nguyen Thi Phuong Trinh, Tran Thi Ngoc Trang.

In Southeast Asia, countries that have developed triathlon include the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand… Besides the Philippines, which has a relatively superior level, Vietnam can compete for medals with the rest of the countries. SEA Games 31 is considered a stepping stone for the Vietnamese triathlon team to better prepare for the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia and beyond, to develop triathlon when it is included in the competition program of the National Sports and Sports Congress. 2022.