General Secretary of the Vietnam Athletics Federation Nguyen Manh Hung saidthat the Vietnamese athletics team are given priority to train and compete inseveral countries to have the best preparation for the event in China.
Vietnamese players will take part in the Asian Athletics Championships slatedto kick off in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 12.
The trip to Thailand is also considered an intensive training session toprepare for the ASIAD. Most of the key members of the team left for Thailand topractice.
Thailand is a favourite of the countries chosen by the coaching staff as atraining location since the COVID-19 outbreak. Last year, the team had severaltraining sessions combined with a competition there.
After the Asian Athletics Championships, the Vietnamese track and field teamplans to train in Shanghai in China in September and then move to Hangzhou toattend the 19th ASIAD.
Vietnam will send a 20-strong team to the Thai event. Among the Vietnamese athletesare SEA Games champions Nguyen Thi Oanh, Nguyen Thi Huyen, Nguyen Thi Hang and LuongDuc Phuoc.
At the ASIAD 19, the golden hope of Vietnamese athletics is still placed inrunner Oanh who has recently made history with four golds gained at the SEAGames 32 in Cambodia. Besides, the training board also hopes that youngathletes such as Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Luong Trung Cuong and Huynh Thi My Tien cancreate miracles to help Vietnam win medals.
The upcoming ASIAD is an important event for Vietnamese sports and athletics isstill one of those with high expectations of winning gold. In the ASIAD 18games held in Indonesia in 2018, Vietnam earned two gold medals thanks to longjumper Bui Thi Thu Thao and Quach Thi Lanin the women's 400m hurdles.
At the ASIAD 18, Oanh also won a bronze medal in the women’s 3,000msteeplechase.
Following the ASIAD 19, Vietnamese athletics will close with an importanttournament, the national championship scheduled to be held in Hanoi on October20-28.
ASIAD 19 will be held in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, China fromSeptember 23 to October 8 this year with 40 sports in 55 venues. It will seethe participation of 45 delegations from countries and territories across Asia.
According to Dang Ha Viet, general director of the National SportsAdministration, the Vietnamese delegation will participate in 32 sports at theASIAD 19, but the industry only focuses on strong sports, including athletics.
Viet said national teams havepreliminarily registered their participation in the Asian Games. Coaches areimplementing lesson plans to help athletes achieve their best form for theASIAD.
Hoang Quoc Vinh, head of the Elite Sports 1 Department of National SportsAdministration said: "We will attend the Asian Games with a strong teamfor the most effective performance"./.