The Vietnamese sports delegation has finished competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The result is not difficult to predict, Vietnam did not win any medals despite having 16 athletes participating. What does this result reflect, sir? - During my time working in Vietnam, I had the opportunity to see your sports infrastructure. I visited the National Sports Training Center and a number of sports training facilities, mainly for athletics, weightlifting, archery and some indoor sports. It is often said that winning medals at the Olympics is the result of the strong will and spirit of the athletes. However, the meaning of the medals also reflects the level of development of national sports. In other words, it reflects sports science, technological development, human resources, infrastructure and economic resources. Vietnam needs to be clear about its goals, values ​​and which sports have the potential to compete for medals at the Olympics. In my opinion, Vietnam needs to further develop its infrastructure and proactively invest more heavily in individual sports such as shooting, archery, weightlifting, judo, wrestling, boxing, badminton or table tennis. The reason is that team sports such as football, volleyball, basketball, baseball, handball or athletics, swimming require a lot of physical strength, and there is a huge difference between Asians and Europeans, Americans or Africans.

Can you share more details about how sports science is used to help athletes improve their performance? - Sports science is a field of study that combines knowledge from different disciplines such as physiology, biology, psychology, nutrition, sports medicine and technology to better understand how the human body works and reacts during training and sports competition. The main goal of sports science is to optimize athlete performance and reduce the risk of injury. In Korea, sports science has developed strongly in recent decades, playing an important role in improving the country's sports performance on the international stage. The development of sports science in Korea is based on an advanced training and research system, with the Korea National Institute of Sports Science (KISS) established in 1980, focusing on research and application of science to improve the performance of national athletes, especially in sports such as archery, shooting, fencing and taekwondo. In addition, many top universities in Korea such as Seoul National University and Yonsei University also have departments of sports science, where they study physiology, biology, sports psychology and nutrition. The development of sports science in Korea is also applied with advanced technology such as video analysis, motion tracking technology and the use of artificial intelligence to optimize athletes' training. This helps them improve their techniques and tactics. In addition, South Korea has invested heavily in advanced medical and rehabilitation technologies, including heat therapy, massage, and other support devices that help athletes recover quickly from injuries. The achievements of the Korean team at the 2024 Olympics are a testament to the application of sports science. Of course, it should also be added that the Korean government has played a major role in the development of sports science through investment in infrastructure, research and development, as well as financial support for athletes and training programs.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Korean team is competing quite successfully, being in the top 10. Of which, Korea continues to dominate archery. Where does this success come from, sir? How has Korea built a strategy to invest in and develop this sport? - Korean archery dominates every tournament around the world , to the point that for every sport that we win overwhelmingly, our country's media likens it to "as strong as archery". Our country organizes many competitions to select athletes to participate in international tournaments. Archery competitions in Korea are extremely fierce, people even say that winning a domestic tournament is more difficult than winning a world championship or winning an Olympic gold medal. That shows how many good archers Korea has. I often wonder why Korean archery dominates the world. I think it is too general to say that our archers have excellent skills, high concentration and competitive spirit compared to other countries in the world. And I realized that our country has a tradition of excellent archery. Since ancient times, in wars, archers have demonstrated superior skills and have been passed down from generation to generation. Of course, success does not only come from stories. Korea is increasingly dominating archery thanks to the development of sports science, athletes are increasingly calm and courageous thanks to the advice of psychologists. As experience increases, the more victories, the more outstanding confidence.

More generally, how does Korea build a strategy to develop top sports and compete for medals at the Olympics? - The results that the Korean sports delegation has achieved come from the sports development investment strategy that I just mentioned. Of course, our country's sports industry has good investment and support for many sports, but the most prominent are individual sports. Not only archery, Korea is also very strong in shooting and fencing. I think that strong investment and selective support for the characteristics of the sports industry as well as sports events have helped Korea have more favorable conditions for development, ultimately increasing the opportunity to compete for medals at the Olympics. Of course, it cannot be denied that the physique of Koreans is increasingly developing. Many of our athletes today have strength, speed, and physique that are no different from Europeans. It is also necessary to add that economic investment is very necessary for sports development. To improve both the quality and quantity of infrastructure and human resources, money is needed. However, it should be noted that athletes do not only try their best to win Olympic medals, they have devoted all their passion to bring pride to the Fatherland. Therefore, businesses and people need to join hands to support athletes to compete wholeheartedly. Meanwhile, the role of the State is to encourage businesses to invest in sports, fundamentally and systematically, not to come and go quickly for other reasons. Besides Korea, China and Japan have both achieved high and stable results through the Olympics. Where does the success of these two sports come from, and how is it different from Korea? - China is the world's leading sports power thanks to its almost unlimited human resources. Of course, exploiting that human resource also requires a correct and effective strategy and implementation plan.

Nowadays, China not only wins gold medals in sports that are favorable for Asians, they also compete for medals in athletics and swimming, sports that Asians are often at a disadvantage. This shows that the physical strength of Chinese athletes is increasingly improved to compete. This achievement comes from the synchronous investment of the State and enterprises, with the ultimate goal of enhancing national pride and national status through the Olympics. Japan is more limited in human resources, but has effective support from the developed economy and sports science. The economy brings excellent facilities, and excellent facilities create conditions for sports science to develop. Japan is probably the country with the most developed sports science in Asia, as a result, they produce many excellent athletes. That is why Japan is also capable of competing for medals in swimming or athletics. How do you evaluate the performance of Southeast Asian sports delegations at the Paris Olympics, when the Philippines won 2 gold medals in gymnastics with Carlos Yulo, Thailand had a gold medal in taekwondo with Panipak Wongpattanakit, and Indonesia also won 2 gold medals with Veddriq Leonardo and Rizki Juniansyah ? - The Philippines has always been strong in gymnastics, Thailand has shown potential in taekwondo and weightlifting, Malaysia has also had good results in long-distance running and archery, and Indonesia has been outstanding in many sports, including badminton, mountain climbing, and weightlifting. I have not seen any impressive results from Vietnam. This shows that Vietnamese sports have not produced good results like other neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. I have mentioned how Vietnam should plan and prepare for the future like Korea. My views and information may not be enough, but the result is that Korea is achieving very impressive results at the Olympics. Vietnam needs to adopt and learn from the sports systems and development plans of South Korea and Japan, Asian sports powerhouses in addition to Southeast Asian countries.

I think it is necessary to compare and analyze why Korea and Japan achieved remarkable results at the Olympics. Competition with Southeast Asian countries would not be meaningful if Vietnamese sports were capable of competing with Korea and Japan. Therefore, I think it is necessary to review the current status, level and problems of Vietnamese sports, focusing on the development potential and capabilities of the players. If Vietnamese sports only want to compete and compare with Southeast Asian countries, it will be difficult to achieve impressive results in major global competitions such as the Olympics. Thus, the success of Asian sports delegations (especially East Asia) at the Olympics mainly comes from sports that require dexterity (table tennis, shooting, archery, gymnastics) or traditional martial arts (judo, Taekwondo). In your opinion, what is the appropriate development direction for Vietnamese sports to compete for Olympic medals? - I think that even Asian sports powerhouses find it difficult to compete in football, volleyball, basketball or handball. Therefore, Vietnam needs to invest heavily in individual sports that require skill as you mentioned. In my opinion, Vietnamese athletes can compete well in wrestling, boxing, shooting, archery, weightlifting and badminton. If Vietnam invests heavily in archery, wrestling or other individual sports such as shooting, badminton, judo and boxing, it can expect good results in world competitions. To achieve that, Vietnamese sports also need to make efforts to enhance its development potential through sports exchange programs with Korea and Japan. Thank you for the interview!

Content: Khai Hung

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/chuyen-gia-han-quoc-viet-nam-can-nhan-thuc-ro-hon-gia-tri-tam-huy-chuong-olympic-20240806114220981.htm