Nguyen Thi That: Ticket to the 2024 Olympics and the experience of betting your life
Báo Dân trí•27/05/2024
(Dan Tri) - Nguyen Thi That is not only the first Vietnamese athlete to win a place at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but she is also the only cyclist in the history of Vietnamese road cycling to participate in the Olympics.
Qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics is not easy for Vietnamese sports when up to now (May 24), we only have 10 official tickets to the world sports festival in July. Nguyen Thi That was the first person to "fire the shot" to win a ticket to the Olympics, followed by athletes Nguyen Huy Hoang (swimming), Nguyen Thi Huong (canoe), Pham Thi Hue (rowing), Trinh Thu Vinh and Le Thi Mong Tuyen (shooting), Nguyen Thuy Linh (badminton), Vo Thi Kim Anh (boxing), Trinh Van Vinh (weightlifting), Le Duc Phat (badminton).
Cyclist Nguyen Thi That is the first Vietnamese athlete to win a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics by winning the 2023 Asian Championship (Photo: NVCC).
Before attending the Olympics in Paris, Nguyen Thi That shared many surprising and interesting things with Dan Tri about this honor.
3 times Asian champion, 5 consecutive SEA Games gold medals
Hello Nguyen Thi That, many people still admire you when you are the first Vietnamese cyclist to win a place in the Olympic road cycling race. What is your achievement because it is not easy to get a place in the Olympics when Vietnam is not in the rankings of the International Cycling Union (UCI)? - This achievement is thanks to me winning the Asian Road Cycling Championship in 2023 in Thailand. This is a competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics and according to the regulations, the champion of the tournament will win a place in the aforementioned Olympics. In fact , the tournament in Thailand was the third time I won the Asian Championship in my professional cycling career. I had previously won in 2018 and 2022, but the gold medal in 2023 is the most meaningful because the organizing committee awarded the Olympic place based on this achievement. When you heard that you had qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, who was the first person you told the news to and how did you feel at that time? - I definitely told my family and the people I love the most about this good news. I am still happy and proud when I remember that feeling. It was an overwhelming feeling of joy that cannot be described in words. An athlete's life only hopes to attend the Olympics once and I have done it after more than 15 years of pursuing this sport.
After 15 years of professional competition and being known by many people as you are now, you must have won many memorable achievements? - That is also quite a long time for me. The first memorable achievements to mention are the silver medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, Korea. Then the gold medal at the 2023 Asian Championship helped me win an Olympic ticket. Those are two important milestones in my sports achievements. In addition to winning 3 gold medals at the Asian Championship, I was also lucky to win gold medals at 5 consecutive SEA Games in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023. Among the above achievements, which medal do you feel is the most memorable? - For me, it is probably the 2023 Asian Championship gold medal. According to the new regulations of the International Cycling Federation, the athlete who wins the gold medal in this tournament will be eligible to attend the 2024 Paris Olympics. Not only me but all athletes have to try hard to compete because there is only one spot for the winner. During the competition, strong teams such as China, Japan, Korea, Kazakhstan, and Thailand organized continuous attacks. My teammates and I had to be very united, clever, and calculate the best way so that I could sprint my strength in the last meters before the finish line. And as a result, I completed the target I set for myself. Before achieving success, you probably also encountered many regrettable failures on the race track. Can you share about this sad memory? - There will definitely be failures. Because only when you are foolish can you be wise. I am also a normal athlete. After each race, whether I win or lose, I look back and reflect, draw lessons for myself and find ways to correct my mistakes. Mistakes and failures have helped me grow and improve myself. My saddest memory is probably missing out on the chance to win the gold medal at the 19th Asian Games in China last year because my injury from the Giro'd Italia race the previous July had not yet recovered.
Any athlete competing at the highest level is most afraid of injury. It not only prevents athletes from participating in top tournaments but also makes them lose their form, many even have to retire if they are seriously injured. Knowing that your sister is also a cyclist but was injured and retired, what do you think about the dangers that athletes may encounter on the track? - I don't know what to say because it's true that I am also betting my life on my passion. Cycling is one of the harsh sports that can take the lives of athletes at any time. Scratches, broken arms, broken legs are common occurrences in cycling races. With major races of European and world stature, athletes losing their lives in accidents on the track, many athletes with serious injuries are also not uncommon. If I say I am not afraid, I would be lying to myself, but I was born to be a cyclist, so I can only encourage myself to be strong and continue to contribute. I try my best not only for myself but also for my sister.
The truth about the salary of 100 million VND/month
It is known that you are on the payroll of An Giang Club, but are wearing the shirt of a European club. Do you feel that foreign athletes are different from Vietnamese athletes? - The name itself is different. Foreign athletes are always invested in and trained professionally from the beginning. Their self-awareness in training is high, their treatment is worthy of the achievements they have achieved. I heard that your average income is about 100 million VND/month, that is probably the dream number of many cyclists as well as other sports in Vietnam. Do you think this sport will help you change your life? - I also really wish that the income of 100 million VND/month is true and will be like that throughout. Actually, my monthly income if I were to concentrate in Vietnam would not have this level. Nguyen Thi That admits that sports help her and her family have a better life, but it is thanks to her tireless efforts over 15 years of professional competition (Photo: NVCC). It is true that sports have helped me and my family to have less hardship, but what I have today is due to my own efforts, not luck. Everyone knows that everything has its price. And the price of success is not cheap. Besides training, what do you spend your time on in your free time and rest? I am still studying at the University of Sports and Physical Education in Ho Chi Minh City. Therefore, when I am not competing, I will spend time studying and visiting my family because I often travel far to train and compete, so I am rarely at home. At the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, what are your goals and do you hope to create a big surprise in this tournament? - It is difficult to say anything in advance, participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics is a dream that I once thought would only happen in dreams. It will be a tournament that brings together all the strong athletes from around the world to participate. Nguyen Thi That is determined to compete well at the 2024 Paris Olympics as this is a tournament that gathers all the strongest cyclists in the world (Photo: NVCC). But now the dream has been achieved and to make it more complete, I first set a goal for myself to complete the distance safely, compete to the best of my ability or even more. The rest depends on fate. In your experience, for athletes, what is the key factor to help them succeed? - For me, there is no secret. Everything is formed from the training process, training awareness, training mindset and a reasonable diet. Always try hard and have true passion. The road to success cannot depend on luck, it is the relentless effort of each person. Thank you for this conversation!
Some achievements of cyclist Nguyen Thi That Athlete Nguyen Thi That was born in 1993, from An Giang province, and started to become a cyclist at the age of 15. In 2013, Nguyen Thi That won a bronze medal at the 27th SEA Games, the first major international tournament she attended. In 2014, That won a silver medal at the Asian Games held in Incheon, Korea, and then 5 gold medals at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore, 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2019 in the Philippines, 2021 in Vietnam and 2023 in Cambodia. Nguyen Thi That's peak racing career continues to be marked by 3 gold medals at the Asian Road Championship in 2018, 2022, 2023. Notably, the gold medal at the Asian Road Championship in June 2023 not only helped Vietnam's number one female cyclist successfully defend her title as the reigning champion, but also helped Nguyen Thi That become the first athlete of Vietnamese sports to win an official ticket to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics and the first racer in the history of Vietnamese road cycling to participate in an Olympic Games. Nguyen Thi That's successes are the sweet fruit of the accumulation process after more than 4 years of competing abroad for international racing teams. In 2019, Nguyen Thi That joined the Lotto-Soudal Ladies racing team (Kingdom of Belgium), becoming the first Vietnamese cyclist to compete for a European racing team. In early 2023, That trained and competed internationally for the Roland Israel Premier Tech Roland Club (Switzerland). This is the leading Swiss racing team in the UCI Women World Team group, the highest level for women's cycling in the world. Since 2023, Nguyen Thi That has trained and competed in many professional races in Australia, Italy, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and France to prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympics in July.
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