(BGO) - "Excellent", "wonderful", "class is forever", "admiring you", "congratulations to the golden girl" are words expressing admiration, love and pride on social networks toward runner Nguyen Thi Oanh, a small girl from Bac Giang who has excellently won two gold medals in the women’s 1,500m and 3,000m steeplechase at SEA Games 32 on the afternoon of May 9.
Perhaps in the history of the SEA Games and the Olympic Games, there has never been a harsh competition schedule like that Nguyen Thi Oanh faced on the afternoon of May 9 at the 32nd SEA Games. The organizers suddenly changed the schedule, arranging two final competitions in the women’s 1,500m and 3,000m steeplechase only 20 minutes apart.
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The joy of runner Nguyen Thi Oanh after winning the gold medal in the women's 5,000m hurdles event. |
Many people were worried when seeing Oanh being put in a situation where she might have to choose one of the two contents. The psychological pressure from the expectations of the fans and the coaching staff was also a huge challenge to the athlete. However, Oanh did not "surrender". In the 1,500m race, she excellently finished first with a record of 4 minutes 16 seconds 85.
After winning the gold medal, she did not have time to celebrate the victory, but had to immediately prepare for the 3,000m race. With extraordinary efforts, Oanh excellently defended her gold medal in the 3,000m steeplechase with 10 minutes 34 seconds 39.
The achievements of the Bac Giang "golden girl" surprised the athletes and professionals present at the stadium. These are two gold medals that the runner has won consecutively in the shortest time in SEA Games history.
The media and social networks were flooded with news, articles, photos and video clips about Nguyen Thi Oanh while competing and after winning in harsh conditions unprecedented in the history of the SEA Games.
Dao Xuan Hung, athletics coach of the Bac Giang provincial Sports Training and Competition Center, who once coached Nguyen Thi Oanh, said: "When we heard the news that the race schedule had changed, we were very worried and thought that Oanh would only choose one content because the time for two races was too short. Unexpectedly, Oanh won spectacularly”.
On May 10 and 11, Nguyen Thi Oanh had time to relax after two days of competition, winning three gold medals in the women’s 5,000m, 1,500m and 3,000m steeplechase.
From her hometown of Bac Giang, relatives and fans are keeping a close watch on Oanh and wish she will continue to play resiliently to make her name in history by winning four gold medals at a SEA Games.
Since primary school age, Oanh has loved running. She participated in many running tournaments organized by Lang Giang district and won high prizes. She has always been the district's seed No.1 for the Bac Giang Newspaper Run.
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Runner Nguyen Thi Oanh on the track. |
Every time Oanh attended the Bac Giang Newspaper Run, she felt very honored and proud because this is the largest running tournament in Bac Giang province with the participation of thousands of athletes of different ages from 10 districts and city, agencies and units across the province. It is a playground for young athletes to showcase their talents. For many years in a row, Nguyen Thi Oanh has always been named at the podium position to receive the first prize in the tournament.
From the tournaments co-organized by Bac Giang Newspaper, Oanh has gradually asserted herself. These gave her the opportunities to show her talent and then become a professional runner.
Currently, she is both an athletics athlete and coach of the Bac Giang provincial Sports Training and Competition Center. Since 2016, she has continuously harvested many successes in domestic and continental tournaments. Nguyen Thi Oanh was also voted first among outstanding Vietnamese athletes in 2022.
