12 years without foreign experts for focus groups

Until 2013, the Vietnamese national team still had foreign experts for key athletes, sometimes even only for one key athlete (weightlifter Hoang Anh Tuan had a Bulgarian expert during the preparation for the 2008 Olympics). Until the end of 2013, the key athletes, including weightlifter Tran Le Quoc Toan, were still trained by expert Deikov (Bulgaria) with a salary of about 2,200 USD/month.

Tran Le Quoc Toan's 4th place at the 2012 London Olympics was considered to be below the target at that time and that was one of the reasons why by the end of 2013, the General Department of Sports and Physical Training (now the Vietnam Sports and Physical Training Department) did not renew the contract with this expert. Later, in 2020, Tran Le Quoc Toan was promoted to win the 2012 Olympic bronze medal when the 3rd place weightlifter (56kg) at that year's Olympics, Valentin Hristov (Azerbaijan), was found positive for doping and had his results canceled.

But at that time it was too late to accurately assess the contribution of expert Deikov to Vietnamese weightlifting in general and Tran Le Quoc Toan's achievements in particular at the 2012 Olympics. Because if Tran Le Quoc Toan had won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics, perhaps expert Deikov would have stayed with the Vietnamese weightlifting team longer even though the key group of athletes he coached did not achieve satisfactory results in 2013, which was also another reason why the General Department of Sports and Physical Training did not renew his contract.

Thus, both medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics of the Vietnamese weightlifting team had the mark of foreign experts, although the level of contribution of each person was different.

After that, the General Department of Sports and Physical Training also promoted the search for foreign experts for the key athletes in the national team with the orientation of European coaches. But from 2014 until now, the key athletes still do not have foreign experts.

The problem lies in the fact that key athletes from then until now such as Thach Kim Tuan, Vuong Thi Huyen or Trinh Van Vinh, who have been led by domestic coaches, have also achieved remarkable results in world competitions and ASIAD. That makes those in charge believe that domestic coaches can handle the task in important competitions such as the Olympics and ASIAD. But when it comes to winning gold medals at ASIAD or medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the 2020 Rio Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021) and most recently the 2024 Paris Olympics, all of them have failed to do so.

In fact, up to now, Vietnamese weightlifting still has foreign experts, but for the group of athletes in the youth team. For nearly ten years now, expert Daniela Samuilova Kerkelova - who participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympics in Australia as an athlete, has worked with the national youth team and contributed greatly to creating talented young athletes. Among them, the most prominent is weightlifter Ngo Son Dinh, who won a gold medal at the 2018 World Youth Olympics and a silver medal at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. Meanwhile, female athlete Pham Dinh Thi (won a bronze medal in the women's 49kg category at the 2024 World Championships) is also a student of Daniela Samuilova Kerkelova.

All of this also shows that foreign experts still have effective and practical contributions to Vietnamese weightlifting.

Invest in the right "key"

Up to now, along with shooting, and to some extent archery, weightlifting is still considered a priority and has the top potential of Vietnamese sports to compete for ASIAD gold medals or Olympic medals. At a recent workshop organized by the Vietnam Sports and Physical Training Department on the Project to develop key sports to prepare for the Olympics and ASIADs until 2030, with a vision to 2045, experts also agreed on including weightlifting in the key group to compete for Olympic medals.

The problem is still how to invest to be worthy of the title "key" for weightlifting. Right in the recent working session of the Vietnam Sports Administration with the coaching board of the Vietnam weightlifting team, the requirement was to have a change in training methods in addition to other investments related to equipment, facilities, nutrition, medicine, and training.

And to have a breakthrough change in training methods, it is necessary to have foreign experts with new, modern approaches to help the team's key athletes stand firm in high-pressure playgrounds such as the Olympics and ASIAD. And also to reduce the number of times Vietnamese weightlifters drop weights at much lower weights than when training just because of their bravery and mentality. The Vietnam Sports Administration also requested the Department's professional department and the team's coaching board to coordinate with the Vietnam Weightlifting and Bodybuilding Federation to find foreign experts to report to the Sports Administration in May 2025.

The Vietnam Sports Administration also confirmed that it is willing to pay a maximum salary of 8,000 USD/month for foreign experts of key athletes in the national team. This is considered a fairly high salary, which can attract good foreign experts from many other countries. The problem is that the relevant department must find the right person to meet the requirements.

Mr. Do Dinh Khang, General Secretary of the Vietnam Weightlifting and Bodybuilding Federation, also stated that with a salary of 8,000 USD/month, it is possible to find good foreign experts to create a breakthrough in achievements for the team in major tournaments such as the Olympics or ASIAD.

Mr. Do Dinh Khang also leans towards the option of choosing a coach from China because the current domestic coaching staff of the national team can all communicate well in Chinese. In addition, Chinese weightlifting has also proven its position in the Olympic arena thanks to its good coaches and the ability to adjust well during the competition to put the athletes in the most proactive position every time they step on the stage. However, there still needs to be a trial period with foreign experts to assess whether they are suitable for the current personnel of the team or not.

The presence of foreign experts in the national weightlifting team in the coming months is probably just a matter of time. The important issue is still choosing the right experts who are worth the money, the coordination between the domestic coaching board, the weightlifters and foreign experts to create a breakthrough in the coming time, so that weightlifting can truly be the "focus" of Vietnamese sports in terms of both investment and international achievements.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/doi-tuyen-cu-ta-viet-nam-se-dot-pha-voi-chuyen-gia-ngoai--i766982/