Athletics

Inspirational runner and trainer Bùi Lương died at the age 85 on June 30 in Hà Nội. — Photo of tienphong.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese marathon legend Bùi Lương has died aged 85 on June 30 in Hà Nội.

Lương was one of Việt Nam's outstanding runners and coaches, achieving much as an athlete and producing number of champions, while inspiring many people to join the running movement.

Born in 1939 in Sài Gòn, now HCM City, Lương moved to live in Hải Phòng with his relative. He showed his interest in athletics and started running everyday.

In 1957, he took part in an event in Hà Nội and earned bronze which was when he became a true athlete.

In his 20-year career, his results were impressive, with nine national marathon championship titles in 1961 and from 1967 to 1974 and in setting a national record of 2hr 32min that held for 35 years.

Lương also secured golds and set records in other categories such as the 5,000m, the 10,000m and the half marathon.

Lương retired when he was 38 years old and worked as coach for the Hà Nội and the national team before taking charge of Vĩnh Phúc, Military Border Guard and Bình Phước.

Under his 42-year reign, until he was 82, he trained Đặng Thị Tèo to be national champion, Đoàn Nữ Trúc Vân to be 22nd SEA Games' 10,000m winner, Nguyễn Chí Đông to become a 22nd SEA Games marathon silver medalist and national record holder, Hoàng Ngọc Hoa for the 31st SEA Games where he took bronze and Hoàng Nguyên Thanh for the 31st SEA Games, along with many other runners.

In 2016, he was given Lifetime Achievement Award for what he did for athletics.

After his retirement, Lương still kept running and he was a familiar face at the major tournaments such as the Tiền Phong Newspaper National Marathon Championship and Hà Nội Mới Newspaper's Run for Peace. — VNS