Whatever it was that the trainers saw in the five-year-old girl, her parents were happy about one thing.

“I was in the dancing group of the nursery school and was pretty small, but perhaps I looked strong, so the wushu trainers from the Hanoi Department of Physical Training and Sports selected me for a class for the talented,” recalls Nguyen Mai Phuong, who is 19 now. “I knew nothing about wushu.”

The trainers were on the mark though.

Just four years later, Phuong won the bronze at the National Wushu Championships.

“I was nervous because it was the first time I competed at a big event with participants from around the country,” Phuong says. “I tried my best, with so much support from my trainers and family, but I could only win a bronze medal. However, I was very happy with it.”

Fourteen years later, Phuong is a regular on the national, regional and international wushu circuit, a constant medal hope for the nation and for Hanoi.

Many people have mistaken her for an older wushu athlete, Bui Mai Phuong, but the similarity ends with their names. At 19, she looks just 15 or 16 and with a baby face, she has earned the somewhat predictable nickname “Phuong Be” (Baby Phuong).

“People here call me “Phuong Be” to distinguish me from the older Mai Phuong as I really look small.”

Phuong always practices very hard and tries to improve every single movement. She says her boyfriend, who is also a member of the national wushu squad, has helped her a lot when she practices on her own apart from the time at school.

Lucky Olympian

Equally adept at changquang, jian shu and qiang shu, Phuong has won several medals in national and international competitions including a gold medal at the Asian Junior Wushu competition in 2003 and another in 2007; and a bronze medal at the 24th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2007.

Phuong remembers most a wushu competition in the Republic of Korea in 2006 when she competed in the cudgel category and won a gold medal.

“I wanted to try out cudgel to see if I am good at it, but only practiced it for a short time because I felt I am best at changquan, jian shu and qiang shu.”

Phuong’s best international achievement was a bronze medal she grabbed in the jian shu category at the 2008 Olympics but it came in a performance game not included in the main competition.

She says she had good luck twice. The first time was getting enough scores to be granted a berth at the Olympics and the second time was when a teammate chose another category to compete. So she felt more free and confident; and put in an excellent performance for 9.6 points to win the bronze.

Staying with the sport

Asked if she has ever felt tired and wanted to quit, Phuong is emphatic: “No, never. Sometimes I practice very hard and suffer injuries and think of giving up; but shortly afterward, I want to practice even harder. I still want to win more medals.”

Phuong is now preparing for the 25th SEA Games in Laos this December, temporarily stopping her studies at the University of Physical Training and Sports in Bac Ninh Province.

During the interview, Phuong asked several questions about journalism. She said she would like to take a course in journalism to become a reporter one day.

“I have been interested in writing since I was young. I have had some articles published already. I want to study journalism so that I can travel with athletes everywhere to report sports events.”

Reported by Hong Minh