Mr. Hoang Vinh Giang was born in 1946, in a famous family in Dong Ngac village (now Dong Ngac ward, Bac Tu Liem district, Hanoi). His father is the late Professor Hoang Minh Giam – former Minister of Culture, former Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly.
Labor hero Hoang Vinh Giang has made many contributions to Vietnam’s sports industry.
Not only inheriting the precious spiritual and intellectual heritage of his father, but Mr. Hoang Vinh Giang also clearly showed his talent in athletics and martial arts from a very early age. He had an illustrious athlete career, as a record high jumper, the 1m96 milestone he created lasted for a long time almost 30 years at the end of the 20th century.
As an outstanding athlete of Vietnamese sports, Mr. Hoang Vinh Giang then went to school in Ukraine (former Soviet Union). In 1981, he defended his doctoral thesis at the National University of Physical Education and Sport of Ukraine. Not only passionate about the high jump, Mr. Hoang Vinh Giang is also passionate and very good at many other sports such as football, basketball, boxing, etc. He is also a martial arts master, practicing many different martial arts since childhood, taught Wing Chun for many international students during their study and research in the former Soviet Union.
In his sports career, Mr. Hoang Vinh Giang has held the following positions: Director of Hanoi Department of Physical Education and Sports, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Olympic Committee, President of the Vietnam Traditional Martial Arts Federation, Vice President of Olympic Council of Asia, Vice President of South East Asian Games Federation, Head of Vietnam sports delegation for many SEA Games, Asiad, and Olympic Games.
Mr. Hoang Vinh Giang (third, from right) was awarded the title of Elite Capital Citizen in 2010.
In the role of Director of Hanoi Department of Physical Education and Sports in the 1990s and early 2000s, Mr. Hoang Vinh Giang left a great legacy for sports in Hanoi and Vietnam. With the policy of “taking a shortcut, taking the female lead”, he has brought hundreds of talented athletes of Hanoi sports, including 6-7-year-old athletes such as Ngan Thuong, Phuoc Hung (gymnastics), Chi Dong, Lan Anh (athletics), Nam Hai (table tennis), etc. to China for long-term training. Athletes who have gone to China to “go through hard trials” for many years have helped Vietnamese sports for the first time in history win first place in the entire team at the 22nd SEA Games. Along with that, he is also the one who brought many sports such as fencing, wushu, boxing, wrestling, judo, pencak silat, etc. to Vietnam and help these subjects fly high.
Since 2003, Mr. Hoang Vinh Giang has been considered the number one sports strategist in Hanoi and the whole country, associated with the moment of the great success of Vietnam when successfully organizing the 22nd SEA Games with the first place in the whole team. This was the push to create a breakthrough in the development and international integration of a sport, with the role and great imprint of the Director of Hanoi Department of Physical Education and Sports, Vice President and General Manager of the Department of Physical Education and Sports. Secretary of the Vietnam Olympic Committee.
Hanoi sports under his leadership has also achieved many outstanding achievements, contributing to the national team’s core force in many key sports to win gold medals at SEA Games such as athletics, gymnastics, women’s football, sepak takraw, springboard, etc. and especially karate, fencing, taekwondo, wushu, judo, wrestling, pencak silat, etc. Not only wrestling, martial arts but the “architect” of Hanoi sports is also the one who laid the foundation for the capital’s women’s football by inviting coach Gia Quang Thac to train.
As Vice President of the Vietnam Olympic Committee, with good expertise, fluent reading and writing in many languages: English, French, Chinese, Russian, etc. he has always been a leading diplomat and designer of all three international sports events at the regional and the first continental level in Vietnam to host: the 2003 SEA Games, the 2009 Asian Indoor Games, the 2016 Asian Beach Games – in all three Games, Vietnam won the first place, and second place in a convincing manner, contributing to enhancing the image and prestige of the whole country in the international arena.
He was elected as the President of the Vietnam Traditional Martial Arts Federation, he is the founder and president of the World Federation of Traditional Martial Arts, which now has more than 50 members from countries and territories in all five continents. He also contributed to the successful campaign to bring Vietnamese traditional martial arts into the official competition program of the SEA Games.
Along with that, he also holds the position of Vice Chairman of the Vietnam-China Friendship Association, Chairman of the Vietnam-China Friendship Association in Hanoi. In this position, he made an important contribution in promoting Vietnam – China diplomatic relations, the relationship between Hanoi and Beijing was recognized by both sides. He is the one who brought famous coaches Phan Han Quang, Tran Huc Hong, Ngo Thanh Vy, Lu Kien Thanh, Gia Quang Thac, Suhartono, K. Pizma or N. Alexev, etc. to Vietnam.
In 2004, Mr. Hoang Vinh Giang was honored to be awarded the Second-class Labor Medal by the State and was also honored to be awarded the Second-class Labor Medal by the Lao State in 2010.
In 2006, he was awarded the title of Labor Hero in the renovation period for his contributions to Vietnamese sports and was the first person in the sports industry to be conferred this precious title.
In 2010, he was awarded the title of Elite Capital Citizen on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi.
In 2012, at the London Olympic Games, he was awarded an international award by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for his many contributions to the development of the Vietnamese Olympic movement in particular and the international Olympic movement in general.
In his last years, his health declined due to many cardiovascular-related diseases at the same time. The Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Olympic Committee was still relentlessly working, and suddenly passed away while preparing for the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) meeting scheduled for September 13.
The Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Olympic Committee, Labor Hero Hoang Vinh Giang passed away, leaving the Hanoi sports industry and many Vietnamese managers, coaches, and athletes with boundless grief for an example of hard work and devoted to Vietnamese Sports to the last moment.
Last goodbye to Assoc. Prof. Dr., a talented sportsman and diplomat, is an excellent son of the Capital.
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