The Olympic stars of Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines are very young.

The athlete who won the gold medal in weightlifting for Indonesia in the men's 73 kg weightlifting category, Rizki Juniansyah, is only 21 years old this year. However, his achievement was very high: a total lift of 354 kg, 8 kg more than the silver medalist, Weeraphon Wichuma (Thailand) (a high number in weightlifting). Rizki Juniansyah also set an Olympic record in the clean and jerk event, with a score of 199 kg. Another notable detail is that the person who holds the world record in the men's 73 kg weightlifting category is also an Indonesian athlete: weightlifter Rahmat Erwin Abdullah. Rahmat Erwin Abdullah's record of 204 kg was set in February this year. Rahmat Erwin Abdullah did not have a place to compete in the men's 73 kg weightlifting category in the Olympic weightlifting category, because he was in the same weight class as his compatriot Rizki Juniansyah. However, the fact that Indonesia has many strong athletes in this weight class in this competition shows that their inheritance is very good. Rahmat Erwin Abdullah is also only 23 years old this year, completely ready for the next Olympics. Meanwhile, the person who won 2 gold medals for the Philippines in gymnastics is Carlos Yulo (floor exercise and vault), 24 years old this year.

In theory, Carlos Yulo can still shine at an Olympic Games in 4 years. On the Thai side, the silver medalist in men's singles badminton Kunlavut Vitidsarn is only 23 years old this year. He can still compete at the top level in 2-3 more Olympic Games. In the next Olympic Games in 2028, Kunlavut Vitidsarn is predicted to be the strongest male player, because in 4 years, the men's singles badminton gold medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympics Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) is too old.

The silver medalist in the men's 61 kg weightlifting category (the category in which Trinh Van Vinh of Vietnam competed) of the Thai delegation, Theerapong Silachai, is 20 years old this year. The silver medalist in the men's 73 kg weightlifting category, Weeraphon Wichuma, is only 19 years old this year. Thailand has a series of very strong athletes in weightlifting, and they are also very young, showing that their strategy and investment direction are very clear, well prepared with a multi-year roadmap, and have high inheritance.

Vietnamese sports rely on luck and lack direction

Returning to the medal hopes of Vietnamese sports at the 2024 Paris Olympics, one of the biggest hopes is Trinh Van Vinh in weightlifting. But the point is that Trinh Van Vinh only returned to competition last year, after being banned from participating in international activities for 4 years after being found positive for doping in 2019. Trinh Van Vinh's performance is always a question mark, because an athlete who has been out of competition for such a long time will more or less lose his feeling on the stage, and will be greatly affected psychologically when appearing in the world's largest arena, the Olympics (the proof is that Trinh Van Vinh failed all 3 times lifting 128 kg in the snatch competition). During the time Trinh Van Vinh was banned from competing due to a positive doping test, Vietnamese sports could hardly find any athlete of equivalent level to replace him, even though we know that weightlifting used to be our strength, bringing glory to Vietnamese sports at the ASIAD under Thach Kim Tuan (2014 ASIAD silver medal) and at the Olympics under Tran Le Quoc Toan (2012 Olympic bronze medal). Vietnamese sports could not find any athlete of Asian level or higher to replace Trinh Van Vinh, even though we know that the light weight category in Olympic weightlifting is one of the most ideal places for athletes from Southeast Asia to compete for medals. The same is true for shooting. This is the sport where we have a gold and silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics from Hoang Xuan Vinh, and a gold medal at the 2023 ASIAD from Pham Quang Huy. However, it is unclear why, after the ASIAD gold medal last year, Pham Quang Huy has not been invested more heavily to continue attacking the Olympic arena? Or why do we not have other hopes in shooting, except for Trinh Thu Vinh, who is not at his most stable and coldest? Another "medal mine" that Vietnamese sports seem to have overlooked is taekwondo in the light weight categories, even though 24 years ago, Vietnam had an Olympic silver medal in this sport by Tran Hieu Ngan. Before that, we had consecutive ASIAD gold medals in taekwondo by Tran Quang Ha (1994) and Ho Nhat Thong (1998). After that, Vietnam had Nguyen Van Hung (ASIAD silver medal 2002) who is also very strong. However, after the time of the above athletes, Vietnamese taekwondo no longer has martial artists of equivalent level. The “disappearance” of many strong sports in the big arena, relying too much on luck, makes the public unable to help but ask the question: where is the direction of Vietnamese sports? What have we done over the years that has caused our sports talents and strengths to not only not be raised, but also gradually fade away over the years?

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/the-thao-dong-nam-a-phia-truoc-la-bau-troi-viet-nam-trong-cho-may-rui-185240809190654669.htm