pillars step to the other side of the steep slope
The 33rd SEA Games continues to witness the presence of veteran athletes. In table tennis, Mai Hoang My Trang is nearly 40 years old but is still awarded a place to attend the Congress thanks to her stable performance and extensive experience. For her, each tournament at this stage is both a responsibility and a preparation step for her future coaching journey.
Not only table tennis, many older players in other sports also watch the 33rd SEA Games such as Nguyen Tien Nhat (boxing), Ha Thi Linh (boxing), Dinh Phuong Thanh (physical education) or Duong Thuy Vi (wushu) are typical names. They have all contributed to creating a series of achievements for the Vietnamese sports delegation at many congresses, while still playing an important role in leading the young generation.
With wushu, Duong Thuy Vi continues to be a role model for her juniors in terms of professionalism and discipline. Meanwhile, Dinh Phuong Thanh still maintains a serious preparation process before each tournament. The experience accumulated over many years of this group of athletes is assessed by coaches of the national teams as a "precious asset", especially in the context of the young force in the process of maturity.
Vietnamese sports have witnessed many older athletes achieving high results such as shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh or Tran Quoc Cuong - who won the SEA Games gold medal at the age of over 40, showing the value of endurance and fighting spirit.
After the 32nd SEA Games, 19th ASIAD and 2024 Olympics, the sports industry also held many professional meetings to adjust investment strategies. The common point is that the young force must be prioritized for development, but the role of the group of experiences in the transfer process cannot be ignored.
"New golden generation" of Vietnamese sports
In parallel with the leading role of veteran athletes, the rejuvenation strategy has become an important orientation of Vietnamese sports, with the goal of building a strong next generation.
This orientation is concretized by tasks such as increasing investment in key training centers, upgrading facilities and training conditions for young athletes; applying technology, from artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) to data analysis systems to increase training efficiency; promoting science - sports medicine, especially rehabilitation, nutrition and doping prevention according to international standards.
These changes create conditions for the younger generation of athletes to break through, including many faces expected to shine right at the 33rd SEA Games.
The athletics department recognized the remarkable progress of Hoang Thanh Giang (2001) in the 7 coordinated sports. Since the 2023 national gold medal milestone, she has continuously improved her score and reached 5,481 points at the 2025 national championship, surpassing the gold medal at the 32nd SEA Games.
With remarkable development in recent times, Hoang Thanh Giang is one of the biggest hopes for Vietnam's athletics at the upcoming Games.
Meanwhile, Duong Thi Thao (2006) in the high jump dance event also made a professional mark. The 1m84 achievement at the 2025 national championship far exceeded the bar for gold medals at the most recent SEA Games, showing that she is on the right track and is completely capable of competing for a medal group.
In the Vietnamese swimming team, Nguyen Thuy Hien (2009) is one of the brightest talents. In the past two years, she has won 7 Southeast Asian youth gold medals and broken 4 age group records, becoming a face with a key investment and a great hope in the process of finding a next generation after the Anh Vien era.
Table Tennis witnessed the maturity of Tran Mai Ngoc - who, together with Dinh Anh Hoang, brought home the historic gold medal in men's and women's doubles at the 32nd SEA Games. Consecutive successes in the national tournament and the championship title of the 2025 excellent tennis player tournament proved that Mai Ngoc is being fully invested in, on the right track and ready to compete with seniors like Mai Hoang My Trang.
In wushu, Dang Tran Phuong Nhi (2004) - the 2023 world champion is a notable name. Her stable performance helps her become one of the young faces capable of competing for gold medals right at the 33rd SEA Games.
Sharing about the rejuvenation strategy, Director of the Vietnam Department of Physical Training and Sports - Nguyen Danh Hoang Viet said: "Currently, the process of rejuvenating the force in all national teams is going relatively well and we still have investment strategies for young athletes. However, this depends on inherited human resources.
In each sport, each weight class, each event, we have to calculate to suit our physical condition. For example, we mainly focus on light weight classes in strength events. However, we do not ignore other contents. The problem here is how to develop the factor, we focus highly on young athletes to achieve higher goals".
