Honored to be a Typical Young Face of the whole army
Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly is in the high-level professional concentration phase with the Vietnam Karate Team at the National High-Level Athlete Training Center. The female athlete once expressed: "When I knew I was one of the 10 Typical Young Faces of the whole army in 2025 of the Ministry of National Defense, I was really touched. I don't know what to say but this is a very meaningful reward for me." At the meeting and rewarding of individuals organized by the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense (on April 2nd, in Hanoi), Dieu Ly was honored to be present.
Recalling her professional journey in 2025, Dieu Ly feels that she has fulfilled her ability according to the lesson plan set by the coaching staff of the Vietnam Karate Team. Entering the age of 21 (born in 2005), Dieu Ly is already a professional lieutenant of the Army Sports Center. Looking at the professional achievements that this female athlete has achieved for domestic and international tournaments, professionals have admired her. Although Dieu Ly's figure is quite slender, she can show accurate strikes to achieve valuable medal achievements.
Dieu Ly was soon known to fans after winning a Gold Medal at the 2022 World Championships. This is one of the most valuable results that many generations of young Vietnamese karate martial artists have achieved. In the past year alone, Dieu Ly won a Gold Medal in the individual category (women's 55kg weight class) for the U21 age group at the 2025 Asian Youth Championships. Following the success, she won a Gold Medal in the women's kumite (combat) team event at the 2025 Asian Championships. Assessing her student, coach Pham Hong Ha of the Vietnamese Karate Team acknowledged that Dieu Ly is the one who maintains professional concentration.
Before decisive moments, this martial artist can strike accurately with her bravery. Regarding the female athlete, former head coach of the Vietnamese karate team - Mr. Duong Hoang Long also affirmed that Dieu Ly is one of the good development factors that Vietnamese women's karate possesses.
When I was young, I didn't think I could become a professional martial arts athlete. But when I got used to and practiced and became an athlete of Army sports and a karate martial artist, discipline helped me grow up and become much stronger," athlete Dieu Ly shared.
The medal brings spirit to the older sister
Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly is the biological younger sister of the famous karate martial artist Nguyen Thi Ngoan. Last year, Nguyen Thi Ngoan unexpectedly had to say goodbye to SEA Games 33 due to injury. Therefore, Dieu Ly went to Thailand to compete with the determination to win a medal to bring back as a gift for her older sister.
SEA Games 33 is the first Southeast Asian Games in Dieu Ly's career. However, she excellently participated in two finals. Here, Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly won a Silver Medal in the women's 55kg individual event and a Gold Medal in the women's kumite team event.
In conversations, Dieu Ly said that if it weren't for her older sister Nguyen Thi Ngoan, she probably wouldn't have been involved in karate martial arts. "I remember around the age of 12, I went to play at the Army Sports Center where my sister was training. Here, I tried karate martial arts. At that time, I was small but was encouraged by the teachers to just try and succeed. But I also have to thank my older sister very much. She is an idol of sports and also the person who motivates me to practice and compete," athlete Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly recalled.
With military sports, discipline is always put first. And that environment has helped the slender girl Dieu Ly become strong, become a high-level martial artist, bringing achievements to Vietnamese Sports. Witnessing her sister's matches to win medals, Dieu Ly said that she feels even more excited and more confident in the path she has chosen as an athlete.
If you are present and witness the martial artists of the Vietnam Karate Team practicing during training, you will understand that professional challenges are always very large. Every morning, the martial artists have to wake up early from 6 am, preparing for the training session (starting at 8 am). In the afternoon, athletes will be trained in physical strength or professional exercises according to the lesson plan at each training cycle and end the training day by going to bed early to ensure health. Dieu Ly must also adhere to this.
She said: "I am used to such a training style. If I prepare well, I will achieve excitement and technique when competing. With martial arts, training and competition are inevitable injuries. For many years, I have been encouraged a lot by my older sister to have a good spirit and achieve results in training and competition.
ASIAD 20 Goals
In 2024, Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly officially joined the Vietnam Karate Team. Previously, the female martial artist had many years of training and competing in the role of martial artist of the Vietnamese Youth Karate Team. Since becoming a member of the Vietnam Karate Team, Dieu Ly has experienced more international competition opportunities. Notably, she has participated twice and both won Gold Medals in the women's team kumite event at the 2024, 2025 Asian Championships. "For me, the highest goal is still to participate in the ASIAD arena once. I really hope to have the opportunity to participate and show my expertise".
Three years ago, Dieu Ly's older sister, Nguyen Thi Ngoan, won a Silver Medal at ASIAD 19 held in 2023 in China. Witnessing her older sister participating in the final, Dieu Ly herself shared that she had high hopes that she would learn from her older sister.
After SEA Games 33, the Vietnamese karate team returned to training from the beginning of 2026. Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly is one of the key female martial artists that Vietnamese Sports will prepare for ASIAD 20. If she is in good form, she will have the opportunity to go to Japan to participate in the first Asian Games in her career. This year, the Vietnamese karate team will participate in 2 important tournaments before ASIAD 20, which are the 2026 Asian Championship and the 2026 Southeast Asian Championship. This is the time for Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly to affirm her form.
On the arena at SEA Games 33, Dieu Ly once shared that she always maintained a focus and will: "When entering matches, I always keep in mind that I must be as determined as possible, not to lose.
In sports competitions, each athlete will go through many failures to become more mature. In the final of the women's 55kg event at SEA Games 33, Dieu Ly lost to Marissa Hafezan. The female athlete's mood is clearly sad about losing the match. However, she still humbly believes that from the failures she will learn more and prepare professionally to return better.
Professional challenges for Dieu Ly are still many ahead, but when she has entered the peak of her career and is focused on expertise, this female athlete can completely make a surprise at ASIAD 20.
