The 2020 Olympic Games will be postponed, 2021 will be a very special year for Vietnam Sports when it will prepare for and compete in the first two major international events, Olympic Games and SEA Games 31. More significantly, in 2021, Vietnam plays host to the 31st Southeast Asian Games, scheduled to take place from November 21 to December 2.
In 2021, Vietnam Sports will attend the Olympics, compete in the SEA Games 31, and then act as the host.
In the context where the Olympic Games is adjourned to the summer 2021 coinciding with the year when the SEA Games 31 is held in Hanoi – Vietnam, many people questioned how this will affect Vietnam Sports during the preparation?
In this regard, Mr. Vuong Bich Thang – General Director of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training said: “With adjourning Olympic Games to next summer, Vietnam Sports will have a busy second half of 2021 when it comes to Olympics Tokyo and acts as the host of SEA Games 31. However, this is also an opportunity for athletes to have time to train and compete for two conferences”.
“In general, the postponement does not matter much, because next year the SEA Games will take place, these tasks are interconnected. We will have a plan to prepare well for athletes, who have just attended the Olympics, to attend training and competion in the SEA Games”, added Mr. Thang.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam Sports is facing a series of difficulties because the entire domestic and foreign competition system has been paused since the beginning of 2020. The 2020 Olympic Games is postponed although it does not affect much SEA Games 31, but training and competition plans from now until 2021.
After the 2020 Olympic Games is postponed, the Vietnam Sports delegation currently has 5 official participants in the Tokyo Olympics, including Nguyen Huy Hoang (swimmer), Le Thanh Tung (tool sports athelete), Do Thi Anh Nguyet and Nguyen Hoang Phi Vu (archer) and Nguyen Van Duong (boxer) while the target set by the sports industry is 20 participants in Olympic Games. Therefore, in 2021, many stars will have the great responsibilities, that is, focusing on the competitions to win Olympic tickets. The group of athletes who have won tickets is necessary to practice to maintain the performance, fitness and ability to achieve the highest performance at the Olympic Games. With SEA Games 31 with Vietnam as the host, the players also have to make much more effort to complete the tasks to bring the Vietnam Sports delegation to the top. Therefore, right now, the sports industry needs a comprehensive plan to suit the actual situation.
The Olympic Postponement is an opportunity for Vietnam Sports to plan for the dual goal by 2021.
Answering to the press on this issue, Mr. Tran Duc Phan – Deputy General Director – General Department of Sports and Physical Training said: “The forces for the SEA Games are always interconnected with the forces for the Olympics in the long-term and unified strategy that the sports industry has built over the years. In addition, the number of athletes attending the SEA Games, especially with the number of key for attending both the SEA Games and the Olympic Games, is not too much. In other words, this group is a minority and does not interfere with competing at SEA Games 31.
And in fact, not every athlete of Vietnam Sports set the goal of winning a medal at the Olympics because this is a big arena and we have very few opportunities. In the coming time, we will carefully review and build suitable plans based on the specific capacity of each athlete and the sports industry”.
As such, in the context where the Tokyo Olympics postponed until next summer, Vietnam Sports will have the second half of 2021 for attending the Olympics and acting as the host of SEA Games 31. So at this time, Vietnam Sports really need a reasonable plan to be ready for comeback when the pandemic is under control.
Minh Tuan