Nguyễn Thị Oanh poses with her national and NSG 10,000m record. Oanh was voted Việt Nam's best athlete of 2022. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Nguyễn Thị Oanh has been voted Việt Nam's best athlete of 2022 after a vote organised on December 29 in Hà Nội.

Hundreds of journalists nationwide took part in the vote by sending their ballots online and offline to the Việt Nam Sports Administration.

Oanh overcame more than 50 athletes to top the rankings with 1,638 points. 

The Bắc Giang Province-born runner has had a brilliant year in 2022. She grabbed three gold medals and one record at the 31st SEA Games and four titles from the National Sports Games (NSG), which also saw her reach a new national and Games record in the 10,000m event. She was given a second-class Labour Order of the President.

It is the second time that Oanh dominated the annual vote which recognised athletes' performance over 12 months. The first time was in 2019.

Swimmer Nguyễn Huy Hoàng and female footballer Huỳnh Như came second and third with 1,288 points and 624 points, respectively.

Hoàng was also the most outstanding male athlete of the May Games where he secured five golds and a record. He received the second-class Labour Order of the President. At the NSG, Hoàng bagged two golds and two records.

Như is the national team captain and plays for Lank FC in Portugal. She played a key role in Việt Nam's 31st SEA Games trophy and first Women's World Cup slot next summer in Australia and New Zealand.

Other athletes on the list are Asian cycling champion Nguyễn Thị Thật, world weightlifting winner Lại Gia Thành, two-time SEA Games tennis champion Lý Hoàng Nam, multi-time SEA Games swimming winner Trần Hưng Nguyên, SEA Games football champion and captain Đỗ Hùng Dũng, Asian boxing champion Nguyễn Thị Tâm and World Games wushu champion Dương Thúy Vi.

The coach of the year title goes to Mai Đức Chung, who guided the national female football team to the SEA Games top podium and the 2023 World Cup.

Football trainer Mai Đức Chung is the best coach of the year. — VNA/VNS Photo

Chung received 618 points to top 20 other coaches. In second place was athletics coach Nguyễn Văn Sỹ with 617 points. Swimming coach Nguyễn Hoàng Vũ finished third with 516 points. 

Two others on the list of five were South Korean Park Hang-seo of male football and Lưu Văn Thắng of weightlifting.

In the vote for athletes with disabilities, swimmer Đỗ Thanh Hải of HCM City won with 884 points. He claimed five golds from the regional ParaGames and set four new records. He took part in the World Series Indianapolis tournament and passed Asian standards in the 100m freestyle, 100m breaststroke and 200m medley.

He was followed by powerlifter Lê Văn Công, swimmer Vi Thị Hằng, chess master Nguyễn Thị Hồng and athlete Nguyễn Thị Hải.

Nguyễn Đăng Viễn was voted the best coach of athletes with disabilities. He guided athletes to win 18 swimming golds at the ParaGames.

The two runners-up were Lê Quang Thái in powerlifting and Bùi Quang Vũ in chess. VNS