Influence on the plan for point-based competition
Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic around the world, plans and preparatory activities for getting places in Olympic Games of many national teams in many subjects have been significantly influenced. From the beginning of the year so far, many qualifying competitions for Olympic Games have been canceled or postponed, making the Vietnamese Sport Team’s goal of getting 20 places in the Olympic Games harder to realize.
Health of coaches, experts, and athletes has been given the top priority by Vietnamese Sport Team at the moment.
For example, the Shooting World Cup 2020 is scheduled to be held in India in March to select the attendance of Tokyo Olympic Games 2020. To prepare for this tournament, Vietnamese national shooting team has been trained in Korea. However, the tournament was postponed due to the non-attendance of many countries, resulting in the Vietnamese team not being eligible for attending the Olympic Games as decided by the International Sports Shooting Federation. Therefore, Vietnamese team members have to return to Vietnam and wait for the next competitions. Due to the complicated situation of COVID-19 pandemic, the Shooting World Cup 2020 was postponed and rescheduled to May. This is a very important tournament, the last chance for Vietnamese team to obtain places in Tokyo Olympic Games 2020.
For badminton subject, the situation is similar when some international tournaments by the end of March have been postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic. As set out by the Badminton World Federation, the top 34 players ranked after the qualifying round may attend the men’s and women’s singles in Tokyo Olympic Games 2020. If there is more than one player from a country, region, or territory ranked from 17 to 38, only 1 player may attend. Considering the current rank, among the group of players eligible to participate in Tokyo Olympic Games 2020, Tien Minh ranked 23, Nguyen Thuy Linh ranked 24 (together with others), and Vu Thi Trang ranked 25. However, it is not possible so far to confirm how many international tournaments Vietnamese players may attend to earn points for Olympics 2020 if COVID-19 pandemic is still complicated.
“Despite the influence of COVID-19, the goal of gaining 20 places in Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 of Vietnam Sport Team as planned remains unchanged. However, the plan for training abroad for some subjects needs adjusting and changing. I think the National Sport Federation and Association and sport departments under the General Department of Sports and Physical Training have reviewed to find out the most solutions. Regardless of any change in the training place and international competition plan, health of coaches, experts, and athletes has been given the top priority at the moment. Experts, subject departments, team members should seriously and carefully consider. For the top sports, our main goal now is to regularly update the change in the schedule of important international tournaments made by Asian and international Sports Federations and Associations so that national team members can make the best preparation in terms of qualifications as well as health. This is the most important time for each athlete to raise their awareness of self-discipline and seriousness in preventing COVID pandemic and improve their professional qualifications”. – said Mr. Vuong Bich Thang – General Director of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training.
Currently, to ensure the safety and health of athletes and coaches, many national teams, including the ones who are preparing for the Olympic Games should limit the training and competition trips abroad. In addition, since March 11, the General Department of Sports and Physical Training issued a dispatch requesting coaches and athletes to stay in training centers without going outside. The coaches and athletes returning from abroad must carry out medical declaration procedure with the competent agencies and undergo 14-day isolation as prescribed.
Impact on achievements and goals at the Olympic Games
Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in many European and Asian countries, many international competitions to select the attendance for Tokyo Olympic Games have been postponed. Therefore, the goal of getting 20 places in Olympic Games 2020 of Vietnam Sport Team is unable to be fulfilled.
As of mid-March, there have been 7 competitors from Vietnam Sport Team who are eligible to participate in the Olympic Games 2020, namely Nguyen Tien Minh and Nguyen Thuy Linh (badminton), Nguyen Van Duong (boxing), Nguyen Huy Hoang (swimming), Le Thanh Tung (gymnastics), Do Thi Anh Nguyet and Hoang Phi Vu (archery). The Badminton World Federation will close the list of eligible players by April 26. We believe that with the existing points, two athletes Nguyen Tien Minh (male singles) and Nguyen Thuy Linh (women’s singles) will be eligible to take part in the Olympic Games.
Photos: Two athletes Nguyen Thuy Linh and Nguyen Van Duong from Hanoi obtained 2 places in the Olympic Games 2020.
As expected, there will be at least 9 international tournaments in March in which Vietnamese athletes should attend in subjects like shooting, gymnastics, Taekwondo, Judo, boxing, and archery if they want participate in Olympic Games, but it is difficult to achieve this goal. The failure to attend the qualifying tournaments will limit the chances of many athletes to participate in Tokyo Olympic Games and directly affect Vietnam Sport’s goal of getting 20 places. The point-based tournaments or competitions for Olympic Games will end by June as expected. As such, Vietnamese Sport Team will only have 3 months more to obtaining 20 places. It is not easy problem.
Hoang Vinh