VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam’s chance to compete for a top-three spot in the men’s 100m event at the upcoming 25th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games is within reach with sprinting star Nguyen Van Huynh.

Bui Thi Nhung.

Although he failed to repeat the record time in the final, his 10.41 was still good enough to grab the gold and beat his prior national record of 10.52.

There is, however, some contention about Huynh’s 10.24 record semi-final result, because it was collected by a stopwatch rather than a digital clock. According to Duong Duc Thuy, head of the Track and Field Department of the National Administration for Sports, 10.24 by stopwatch is similar to about 10.45 by the digital clock. This would make Huynh’s time far from the SEA Games record, but close to the time set by last year’s SEA Games gold medallist, who finished with a time of 10.39 last December, Thuy added.

Huynh has said that, “he promises to win a medal for Viet Nam at the event that has been dominated by Thailand and Indonesia for years.”

The great hope

In the past two SEA Games, Viet Nam have become a force to be reckoned with in short-distance races. ’Sprint queen’ Vu Thi Huong has pushed her strong rivals from Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia aside to claim the top spot in the women’s 100m and 200m track events.

Now, Huong’s male teammates are finally reaching the same potential to beat-out international opponents.

“We have young runners, who are at the same level. Their results are around 10.50, which was rare to see in the past,” said Trinh Duc Thanh, former national champion in short-distance races.

“If these youth receive more attention, they will make it in the top three in the SEA Games,” Thanh said.

The 23-year-old Huynh has steadily increased his level of performance in the past two years. His best time was 10.45 in 2006. Two years later, his result was 10.41. This is especially impressive, since Huynh has trained almost solely in Viet Nam and has only taken part in few regional tournaments.

Huynh and his teammates including Hoang Thanh Viet, Tran Nghia Nhan, Truong Van Lam and Le Van Ba need more support from the Government, said Thuy.

According to Thuy, since the money from the Government has to be divided among many different activities, and Huynh has not yet earned enough medals, he will not be made a No 1 priority of the department.

Gold medallists like Huong, Truong Thanh Hang and Nguyen Dinh Cuong, winners in women’s and men’s 800m and 1,500m, along with high jumper Bui Thi Nhung, decathloner Vu Van Huyen and Nguyen Thu Cuc will be the first to receive more financial support.

These athletes will start training early next month and will have one to two training courses abroad in preparation for the two most important competitions in 2009: the 25th SEA Games in Laos and the third Asian Indoor Games in Viet Nam.

(Source: Viet Nam News)