A meeting marking the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam AthleticsFederation (VAF) was held at the Elite Athletes Training Centre inHanoi on November 23.
The event attracted a largeattendance, and many onlookers were coaches who have worked with theorganisation. Speakers toasted the VAF's success and looked ahead to thefuture.
"With the VAF's lead, Vietnamesetrack-and-field is now in the top three in the region and our athleteshave tasted success in continental events," said Ho Thi Tu Tam, thecoach of the national middle-distance running team.
Track-and-field was introduced to Vietnam by the French in the early20th century. Over the past 50 years, the VAF has presided over asporting culture that has gone from strength to strength and seenVietnamese athletics develop fast.
The countrycompeted in its first international athletics event, the Games of theNew Emerging Forces, in Indonesia in 1963 alongside 51 othernations.
In later international and regional events, such as the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, they brought home many medals.
Recent highlights include Truong Thanh Hang, who is the Vietnameserecord holder for both 800m and 1500m races. She is one of Asia'sforemost middle-distance runners, having been among Asia's top ranksin 800m races both indoors and outdoors. She was a double silvermedalist for Vietnam at the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD) in Guangzhou ,China in 2010 and has also been highly successful at the SEA Games,where she won gold medals from 2005 to 2009.
Vu ThiHuong has been similarly dominant over short distances. She won 100mgold and 200m silver at the 2005 SEA Games, and both 100m and 200m goldmedals at the 2007 event. In addition she has won bronze and silvermedals in the Asian Championships.
Athletics will take centre stage when the 18th Asian Games come to Vietnam in 2019.-VNA
The event attracted a largeattendance, and many onlookers were coaches who have worked with theorganisation. Speakers toasted the VAF's success and looked ahead to thefuture.
"With the VAF's lead, Vietnamesetrack-and-field is now in the top three in the region and our athleteshave tasted success in continental events," said Ho Thi Tu Tam, thecoach of the national middle-distance running team.
Track-and-field was introduced to Vietnam by the French in the early20th century. Over the past 50 years, the VAF has presided over asporting culture that has gone from strength to strength and seenVietnamese athletics develop fast.
The countrycompeted in its first international athletics event, the Games of theNew Emerging Forces, in Indonesia in 1963 alongside 51 othernations.
In later international and regional events, such as the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, they brought home many medals.
Recent highlights include Truong Thanh Hang, who is the Vietnameserecord holder for both 800m and 1500m races. She is one of Asia'sforemost middle-distance runners, having been among Asia's top ranksin 800m races both indoors and outdoors. She was a double silvermedalist for Vietnam at the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD) in Guangzhou ,China in 2010 and has also been highly successful at the SEA Games,where she won gold medals from 2005 to 2009.
Vu ThiHuong has been similarly dominant over short distances. She won 100mgold and 200m silver at the 2005 SEA Games, and both 100m and 200m goldmedals at the 2007 event. In addition she has won bronze and silvermedals in the Asian Championships.
Athletics will take centre stage when the 18th Asian Games come to Vietnam in 2019.-VNA
