Age 36 is still the pillar of Vietnamese rowing
At the age of 36, Pham Thi Hue is preparing to enter her 5th consecutive ASIAD, a rare milestone for Vietnamese rowing. The birthday of September 6th is also the time when the female rower from Quang Binh focuses on a new goal at ASIAD 20, after maintaining medal achievements in all 4 previous congresses.
Every ASIAD that passes, I grow older. But I have never run out of enthusiasm for rowing. I am determined to conquer this 20th ASIAD in Japan," Pham Thi Hue shared.
Hue's achievements at ASIAD began with a silver medal in 2010. Four years later, she had 1 silver medal and 1 bronze medal, before winning a silver medal at ASIAD 18 in 2018.
At the Games in Hangzhou in 2023, Pham Thi Hue, along with Dinh Thi Hao, Ha Thi Vui and Du Thi Bong, won bronze medals in the women's 4-segment heavy single-row boat event. This is also one of the first medals of Vietnamese Sports at that ASIAD.
In total, Pham Hue has won 6 medals at the ASIADs and is facing the opportunity to maintain her achievement streak if she continues to step onto the medal podium in Japan in the near future. The Vietnamese rowing team is currently training in Hai Phong and the rower from Quang Binh is still working hard.
Experience is one of Hue's biggest advantages as she has gone through many congresses and international tournaments.
Memories of missing the Olympics
Before ASIAD 20, Pham Thi Hue also completed a goal that seemed to have closed after many years of waiting, which was to participate in the Olympics. In 2024, she passed the Asian rowing qualifiers and became the only Vietnamese rowing rower to win an official ticket to the Paris Olympics.
Behind that ticket is an 8-year journey, with two times Vietnamese female rowers reaching the standard but failing to participate in the Olympics.
The first time occurred in the Rio 2016 Olympic qualifiers. Pham Thi Hue finished 4th in the women's lightweight singles event, qualifying for the Olympic spot. However, Vietnam was only allowed to register for one women's event, so she gave the opportunity to her teammates Pham Thi Thao and Ta Thi Huyen, who competed in the lightweight doubles event.
4 years later, the story continued to repeat. Hue ranked 4th out of 14 athletes in the 2020 Olympic qualifiers and once again qualified for the Olympics. However, the competition spot was awarded to the pair Dinh Thi Hao and Luong Thi Thao.
Facing opportunities twice but both missed, making the Olympics an unfinished goal for the female rower from Quang Binh for a long time. Therefore, the ticket to Paris in 2024 is of special significance. At the age of 34 at that time, Hue still passed the qualifying round to become the only Vietnamese rowing rower to win an official Olympic spot.
She once shared with Lao Dong: "As soon as I started to start, I encouraged myself to try my best, not to be discouraged and give up. That is the motivation that helps me overcome fatigue and bring the boat to the finish line as quickly as possible.
After reaching the finish line and being informed that I had a ticket to the 2024 Olympics, I burst into emotions, all the efforts in the past time have brought sweet results”.
Ahead of Pham Thi Hue is ASIAD 20. After 16 years of attachment to this arena, the female athlete born in 1990 still aims to maintain her medal streak and may close the ASIAD journey with a new milestone.
