By Lê Hương*

No matter how hot it is outside, this has to be one of the coolest sports to try.

Figure skating is quickly becoming more and more popular in Việt Nam.

“Normally, in artistic figure skating, due to its classical artistic features with a foundation of ballet, each movement should be very delicate. I have to check my trainees’ movements little by little,” Chiêu Linh, a figure skating coach, told Việt Nam News.

Linh is one of the rare figure skaters in Việt Nam. She started practising the sport in 2015 when she was 10, two years after the first artificial ice rink appearing in Hà Nội in 2013.

Now she has become a coach for the second generation of figure skaters in the country.

“It’s interesting because it is an energetic sport,” said figure skater Lê Bùi Thanh Hằng. “Actually, we have to train a lot, and also improve our style and put our soul into the performance.”

Chiêu Linh practises on the ice rink. VNS Photo Bảo Long

She said if the practice is for fun, it’s interesting. "But when we skate in a contest, it’s rather stressful, because we have to pay attention to too many things."

“At my age of 20 now, I can get injured easily,” Hằng said. “I have to be careful and practise on ground as well as on ice, so that I have enough strength to perform in competitions.”

Each of Linh’s followers like the sport for different reasons. Some of them have won medals at national contests.

“It’s kind of a balance between art and sport,” said figure skater Phạm Hoài Anh. “In the arts, we can release our soul along with the background music, we can follow the rhythm like dancing on ice. It’s also similar to ballet on ice. We have to control our body and sense the music as well as sense the ice surface.”

People play on the ice. Photo from Chiêu Linh Facebook

Hà Minh Phương, a ten-year-old girl, said she has never been injured and she does not think the sport is difficult at all.

“It’s suitable for me because it’s fun,” she said. “I can rotate once in the air and reach the ice without falling down. I want to practise its longer and be able to rotate twice on the air.”

Hằng said: “I think figure skating has a great potential to develop. At present, the Vietnamese economy is developing. Many families let their children learn more sports and arts. Figure skating is a sport that joins both and nurtures will and bravery.”

Linh said figure skating in Việt Nam has been developing. “That’s how sports go. People can improve year by year. There will be more spectators, and as parents and children see others train, more people will be inspired and join in.”

Hà Thanh Sơn, the father of a figure skater, said he did not intend to let his daughter follow elite sports -- but if she really liked it and wanted to do it, he would help her.

“I think the sport needs more support from the state, because it’s fairly expensive,” he said. “We haven’t got proper ice skating rinks and other facilities for this kind of sport. So it’s difficult for young people to follow elite sports in this field.”

It’s common to see even the elderly join youngsters on the rink.

“I am happy to see young people training,” said retiree Phạm Thị Thuý Lợi. “I think it’s a healthy sport.”

Lợi said at first, she just wanted to try the new sport. But then she liked it.

Ice skating can be very fun. VNS Photo Bảo Long

“I was a little scared at first,” she said. “I thought I could not manage. I have tried several kinds of sports, but I liked it most when I took up this sport. When taking part in skating, I feel the time passes very fast. I can walk a lot on the ice so my legs get stronger. I feel happy as the atmosphere is stirring when the music is on.”

Lợi practises ice skating with her husband several times per week as a sport to improve their health.

With the enthusiasm of young and old, ice skating could thrive even in tropical Viêt Nam. VNS

*With an additional interview by Quỳnh Anh

Phạm Thị Thuý Lợi chooses ice skating as a kind of sport to enhance her health. VNS Photo Bảo Long