Potential young generation of athletes
At SEA Games 33 in 2025, the imprint of young athletes appeared in many sports.
Athletics continues to be one of the bright spots when Nguyen Thi Ngoc (2002) won a gold medal in the women's 400m, continuing the achievement of former athlete Nguyen Thi Huyen. In the men's event, Ta Ngoc Tuong (2005) won a silver medal in the 400m and was a member of the 4x400m medley relay team to win a gold medal, while breaking the national record.
In the same generation, Le Thi Cam Tu (2005) won a silver medal and broke the national record for the women's 200m distance, while Nguyen Khanh Linh (2006) won a silver medal for the women's 1,500m. In particular, Bui Thi Kim Anh (2006) brought home a gold medal in jumping with a height of 1m86, a remarkable achievement in the regional arena.
In other sports, many young athletes have maintained stable form for a long time. Striker Nguyen Dinh Bac (2004) left his mark from the 2023 Asian Cup, then became a pillar of U23 Vietnam to win the U23 Southeast Asian Championship, win a gold medal at SEA Games 33 and win the Vietnamese Silver Ball 2025.
Olympic sports also witnessed the stability of the group of young athletes. In archery, Do Thi Anh Nguyet (2001) continued to play a key role, once being the flag bearer for the Vietnamese sports delegation at the Olympics. Meanwhile, Trinh Thu Vinh (2000) is the highlight of shooting with 4 gold medals and breaking 3 records at SEA Games 33.
In swimming, Nguyen Huy Hoang (2000) won important gold medals in the 1,500m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle and 4x1,500m relay events at SEA Games 33. In addition, he also won 2 gold medals and 1 silver medal at the 2025 Asian Championships.
Vo Thi My Tien (2005) also had a successful SEA Games with a total of 9 medals (1 gold, 3 silver, 5 bronze). Tran Hoang Khoi (2009) attracted attention when he won a gold medal in bowling at SEA Games 33, becoming one of the youngest athletes to win the championship at this Games.
Sustainable development problem
Besides professional imprints, the problem of sustainable development for young athletes also poses many challenges for the sports industry in terms of orientation, training methods as well as other factors such as psychology...
For young athletes, when their personality and psychology are not stable, they are easily under pressure, not only from the media or fans but sometimes starting right within the training and management system.
The case of swimmer Vo Thi My Tien at SEA Games 33 is a typical example. After winning a silver medal, the female athlete born in 2005 burst into tears because she was directly criticized by a leader of the Aquatic Sports Association in the competition area. After the incident, there is also a way to recognize behavior and provide psychological support to young athletes.
The sustainable development problem cannot therefore just stop at "hunting" for medals. In parallel with professional investment, federations and coaching staff need to pay more attention to psychological work and build a reasonable competition schedule.
In addition, the preferential treatment regime is also an important link to retain and nurture young athletes. Reality shows that many talents have to face the problem of making a living or precarious income early.
A corresponding salary, bonus, insurance and learning support mechanism not only helps athletes feel secure in contributing, but also creates motivation for them to pursue long-term careers.
Mr. Tran Duc Phan - Former Head of the Vietnamese Sports Delegation once analyzed that: "Vietnamese sports have many potential athletes who are predicted to develop professional achievements. However, investment in high-performance sports is calculated in terms of cycle.
Games-level tournaments take place in each cycle, we must determine which forces are suitable for each arena to focus on investment to bring the most efficiency.
In the 2025 activity report, term 2021-2025, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism clearly stated that the training of young athletes is focused on, gradually improving the quality of resources for high-performance sports.
