Swimmer Nguyễn Huy Hoàng has been voted Vietnamese athlete of the year by sports journalists. — Photo nld.com.vn
HÀ NỘI — In a year of highs and lows for Vietnamese sport, swimmer Nguyễn Huy Hoàng has been voted the best athlete of 2021, after a highly-contested vote by sports journalists around the country.
With 1,178 points, Hoàng overcame Nguyễn Thị Oanh (athletics) aand Trương Thị Kim Tuyền (taekwondo) to claim the award.
The Quảng Bình Province native was the first Vietnamese athlete to reach the ‘A standard’, qualifying for Tokyo 2020 in the men’s 800m freestyle (ranked 20/34) and 1,500m freestyle (ranked 12/29). In addition, he also won two gold medals at the National Swimming Championships.
At the world championships held in December in the UAE, Hoàng broke national records in the 400m freestyle and 1,500m freestyle.
Hoàng won the national title in the 1,500m freestyle for the first time in 2016. This category also helped him win the 2017 SEA Games gold medal and the 2018 ASIAD silver medal.
Hoàng is considered one of the brightest hopes of Việt Nam’s at the upcoming 31st SEA Games in May.
Of 1,030, track-and-field athletes, Nguyễn Thị Oanh was the runner-up. The Bắc Giang native won five gold medals in 2021. Notably, she broke the 18-year national record in the 5,000m at the National Athletics Championships.
The remaining positions fell to Trương Thị Kim Tuyền (taekwondo, 698 points), Cù Huỳnh Như (women’s football, 552 points), Quách Thị Lan (athletics, 528 points), Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên (swimming, 514 points), Hồ Văn Ý (futsal, 416 points), Nguyễn Thị Thu Nhi (boxing, 408 points), Nguyễn Quang Hải (men’s football, 348 points) and Hoàng Thị Mỹ Tâm (karate, 334 points).
In the best coach award, Phạm Minh Giang of futsal team became the winner with 394 points, followed by athletics coach Trần Văn Sỹ and Coach Park Hang-seo of the Vietnamese football team.
The title of the best athlete with disabilities in 2021 went to weightlifter Lê Văn Công with 810 points. The 37-year-old athlete won one silver at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and one silver at the 2021 world championships.
Along with that, Lê Quang Thái, coach of Công, won the title of best coach for people with disabilities.
The above awards have been voted by sports journalists in the field of sports nationwide. VNS
