Olympics

Trần Thị Nhi Yến (centre) is Vietnamese runner at the Paris Olympics in July. Photo laodong.vn

HÀ NỘI -- Runner Trần Thị Nhi Yến will be the 16th Vietnamese Olympic participant at the Paris Olympics.

On July 4, the Việt Nam Athletics Federation (VAF) announced it had received a confirmation letter from World Athletics confirming Yến's universality place or wildcard.

As per the rules, each country, region or territory that doesn't win direct tickets can send a maximum of three male/female athletes to participate in the 100m, 800m and the marathon.

Yến is currently the number one short distance runner of Việt Nam after she advanced to the top 100 of the Olympic qualifications. She is also the only Vietnamese athlete to have taken part in the five required tournaments over the period July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, which is a mandatory condition to get a wildcard.

According to World Athletics' statistics, Yên's personal best in the 100m event is 11.55sec, 0.49sec short of the Olympic qualifying standard.

In April, Yến was key member of Việt Nam Team running at the Asian Youth Athletics Championships in the UAE. She won two silvers in the 100m and 200m events and secured places to compete in the 2024 World Youth Athletics Championships in late August in Peru.

Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, VAF general secretary, said VAF nominated Yến to the World Athletics in May after reviewing all terms including her technique, potential and analysis from the coaching board.

Since then Yến, who will be 19 on July 9, has been in intensive preparation for the Olympics.

Yến attracted attention from the National Sports Games 2022 where she pocketed golds in the 100m and 200m events. She also dominated the National Athletics Championships 2023 and at the 32nd SEA Games last May, she took 100m bronze and 200m silver. She advanced to the top eight of the 2023 Asian championships and 19th Asian Games.

VFA said Yến showed remarkable progress from each competition and she could potentially help Việt Nam return to regional top podiums in short distance events in the near future.

Coach Nguyễn Thị Thanh Hương said Yến's development was great and she had a bright future, so Việt Nam could expect some impressive results.

Previously, Vũ Thị Hương was unbeatable runner in these events in the SEA Games and Southeast Asian Championships, but she retired in 2015. Later Lê Tú Chinh was a strong threat, before she was sidelined because of injuries and has not regained her peak form.

Athletics are scheduled to run from August 1 to 11, featuring a total of 48 medal events across three distinct sets: track and field, road running and racewalking.

Prior to Yến, Việt Nam had 15 Olympic qualifiers. They are cyclist Nguyễn Thị Thật, swimmer Nguyễn Huy Hoàng and Võ Thị Mỹ Tiên, shooters Trịnh Thu Vinh and Lê Thị Mộng Tuyền, weightlifter Trịnh Văn Vinh, canoeist Nguyễn Thị Hương, rower Phạm Thị Huệ, badminton players Nguyễn Thùy Linh and Lê Đức Phát, boxer Võ Thị Kim Ánh and Hà Thị Linh, archers Lê Quốc Phong and Đỗ Thị Ánh Nguyệt and judo fighter Hoàng Thị Tình. VNS