Sports hero Timor Leste SEA Games 31 “Vietnam is like a second home”

From a difficult childhood to “hero” Timor Leste won 2 medals at SEA Games 31

Recently after finishing the conquest journey SEA Games 31 With 2 silver medals, Felisberto De Deus – 23-year-old track and field athlete from Timor Leste officially returned to his country with his teammates.

Felisberto De Deus is considered the man who made history for Timor Leste sports in this Southeast Asian Games with 2 silver medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m men’s content. From the first Games in 1959 to before this year’s event, Timor Leste had never won a medal in athletics. SEA Games 31 At the end, the Timor Leste team won 3 silver medals and 2 bronze medals.

The most impressive thing about Felisberto’s journey in SEA Games 31 is the moment when he put on the flag of Timor Leste, in the hand of the national flag of Vietnam, confidently strode around My Dinh stadium in the cheers and cheers of the Vietnamese fans. On May 24, Felisberto and his teammates flew back to Timor Leste. With two silver medals, he hopes to create momentum for his hometown to develop sports, putting the name Timor Leste on the world sports map.

Before the time to prepare from the hotel to the airport to return home, Felisberto De Deus said: “Thank you Vietnam for cheering, welcoming and lovingly helping me to perform at my best. One day, I will definitely return. Come back and visit Vietnam. Thank you very much!”.

Exchange with Reporter Dan Viet Through a translator, Felisberto De Deus said, he was born into a farming family of 8 siblings in a small city in Timor Leste. From a young age, Felisberto often played with his friends and competed on the roads around the house. It was the regular running sessions every day that planted Felisberto’s love for athletics in the heart of young Felisberto. At Timor Leste, athletics is the 3rd most popular sport, after football and basketball.

In 2015, when he was just 16 years old, Felisberto officially played professionally. Parents enthusiastically support their son to contribute his talents to the country. A year later, he had his first tournament, although there were not many achievements, but his passion for athletics still motivated him to move forward. Felisberto attended the 30th SEA Games held in the Philippines in 2019 but did not win a medal.

In 2020, he is the athlete entrusted with the responsibility of holding the flag at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. In this Olympics, he competed in the men’s 1,500m event with a record of 3 minutes 51 seconds 03. Although he was eliminated in the first round and did not win a medal, this is the only national record where a Southeast Asian athletes achieved in Olympic athletics.

“I have participated in 5 tournaments in the framework of Southeast Asia before participating in SEA Game 31, all of which have not won a medal. But this is an opportunity for me to develop myself and surpass myself,” Felisberto shared.

In SEA Games 31 Taking place in Hanoi (Vietnam), the Timor Leste sports delegation attended with 39 athletes and competed in 7/40 sports, including athletics, football, karate, taekwondo, weightlifting, swimming. and boxing. To prepare well for this SEA Games, the physical and training conditions at Timor Leste have been improved. However, compared to the general level in the world, the life and training process of athletes in a country of only 1.3 million people are still below the standard.

“Every day, I practice from early morning or late afternoon, avoiding the hot sun or tropical showers. Every day I maintain running 20km around the house, on the village road, or the beach full of garbage and gravel, maybe also in the dilapidated stadium …”, Felisberto said.

The luggage to this SEA Games of “hero” Timor Leste, besides clothes and personal belongings, is also a scarf or a cap, a symbol of solidarity that he wants to give to his Vietnamese friends. Male.

On May 15, at My Dinh National Stadium, Felisberto De Deus participated in the men’s 5,000m race. The 23-year-old, with a thin and small physique, was not appreciated among the participating athletes such as veteran player Nguyen Van Lai (Vietnam) or Sonny Wagdos Montenegro (Philippines), …

With his own efforts Felisberto De Deus excellently won the silver medal, excitedly took off his shirt to celebrate, ran to the end of the stadium to receive the flag and shared the joy with very few members of the delegation who came to cheer. This is the first athletics medal in the SEA Games history of Timor Leste sports.

Two days later, Felisberto De Deus continued to compete in the men’s 10,000m and brought home another precious silver medal for the Timor Leste track and field. After the finish line, he was hugged and congratulated by Vietnamese athlete Nguyen Van Lai.

His happiness was even more meaningful when he held hands with two Vietnamese athletes, Nguyen Van Lai (gold medal) and Nguyen Van Thao (bronze medal) running along the My Dinh yard in the cheers of the fans. tomb.

“It was the enthusiastic cheers of the Vietnamese audience that gave me more motivation to overcome fatigue at the SEA Games”

Happy and emotional, Felisberto ran around the piste, looking up at the stands looking for the national flag to celebrate like any other athlete. When he stood at the finish line and waited for nearly 10 minutes, he was disappointed when he could not hold the national flag in his hand.

At this time, female volunteer Ha Thi Thanh Thuy, 19 years old, a first-year student at the Spanish language department, Hanoi University ran out from stand A, handed the Timor Leste flag to Felisberto for him to confidently put on his shoulder. striding around My Dinh stadium in the cheers and cheers of Vietnamese fans. This is one of the best moments of this year’s Southeast Asian Games.

“It was the enthusiastic cheering of the Vietnamese audience that gave me more motivation to overcome the fatigue on the 10,000m race,” Felisberto said. Two days later, Felisberto had the opportunity to meet Thuy again – the female volunteer who gave her the flag on My Dinh yard.

Felisberto expressed his gratitude and also apologized for not being able to thank the female volunteer as soon as he received the flag. In response, the female student volunteered to say that giving him the flag was her pride. “I’m the one who needs to thank him. I feel happy because I think I should have this moment. The person who should thank him here is me. He sent me a very special and close gift. and dear is the handkerchief made by the people of Timor Leste and the emblem of your country”, Thuy shared.

This is Felisberto’s second visit to Vietnam. Last time, he went to Ho Chi Minh City to participate in the youth athletics tournament. With Hanoi, he was impressed by a beautiful city, many trees and delicious food, especially “the most wonderful city in his life and career as an athlete”.

Taking advantage of the rare days off after completing the competition, Felisberto de Deus and his teammates visited Hanoi’s Old Quarter and West Lake, enjoying bun cha and some other specialties.

“It was like a miracle. I was not known in Vietnam, but when I won the medal, many people came to the hotel to celebrate the victory. I was very happy and surprised,” he said. .

Mr. Nguyen Van Ich, 30 years old, Hoang Mai district went to the hotel where the Timor Leste athletics team stayed in Ba Dinh district, hand-delivered gifts from the three regions of Vietnam. Before meeting Felisberto, Mr. Ich spent half a day going around supermarkets around Hanoi, looking to buy mung bean cakes, cu de candies, o mai, pia cakes, etc., and a hat.

The moment he received the gift, the 23-year-old athlete Timor Leste repeatedly bowed his head and said thank you. On the evening of the same day, Mr. Ich also invited the whole team of athletes from his country to enjoy Hanoi’s traditional bun cha.

“I am very happy, I want to thank the fans for the gifts that I have received. Vietnam is like a second home, I am very happy to be here,” Felisberto expressed.