The National Championships in Athletics continues to compete with many exciting and dramatic events on the second day of competition, especially in the 1,500m content.
Tran Van Dang dominates the men’s 1500m content – Photo: KTDT
In the men’s 1,500m distance, the 2020 national champion, Tran Van Dang (Hanoi) was ahead of his opponents. In the first 2/3 of the way, Van Dang was far behind by the candidates. However, in the last round, with a spectacular acceleration, Tran Van Dang finished first with 3 minutes 54 seconds 98.
Thus, with his youth, Hanoi’s athlete Tran Van Dang excellently won the national championship for the second time with a record of 3 minutes 54.98 seconds. In particular, the achievement in this year’s tournament has significantly shortened the gold medal won by Hanoi athletes at the 2020 National Championships at this distance to more than 15 seconds. At the 2020 tournament, Tran Van Dang won the 1,500m gold medal with 4 minutes 09.94 seconds.
Tran Van Dang shortened the achievement to more than 15 seconds compared to his own achievement in 2020 – Photo: KTDT.
The second finisher in this event also belongs to Hanoi’s athlete, Giang Van Dung, he won silver with a record of 3 minutes 55 seconds 65. Meanwhile, senior athlete Duong Van Thai only finished 3rd with a record of 3 minutes 56 seconds 49.
Sharing with the media after winning the gold medal, Tran Van Dang said: “I always appreciate Mr. Thai a lot more than me, I’m very happy to win Mr. Thai because he is my idol. Thank you for motivating me to compete. Since I haven’t practiced, I have watched Mr. Thai compete in the SEA Games, he is the source of motivation for me to strive to be equal to or better than him.”
Tran Van Dang also revealed that due to the impact of the pandemic, he did not have much time to prepare. A month before the tournament started, he asked to take a break from the national team to return to the locality to practice with his teacher.
Tran Van Dang also said that the 1,500m race in this year’s tournament is much fiercer than last year. Before this tournament, I myself was under pressure because I was the champion, while for the past year, I had not been able to participate in any tournament. However, due to the careful study of the opponents, analysis of strengths and weaknesses to grasp the competition plan, especially the idol Duong Van Thai, Tran Van Dang continued to dominate the men’s 1500m content.
Sharing about his goal at the 31st SEA Games, Tran Van Dang hopes to help Vietnamese athletics win gold at the 31st SEA Games at 1,500m.
Nguyen An