Nguyễn Huy Hoàng is ready for the 2024 Paris Olympics. — Photo vtcnews.vn

Olympics

HÀ NỘI — Nguyễn Huy Hoàng, Việt Nam's top swimmer, is no stranger to the grandest stage of them all. Having represented his country at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, Hoàng has his sights now set on the 2024 Paris Olympics, undaunted by the challenges that lie ahead.

Hoàng's road to Paris has been paved with both triumph and adversity. At the Asian Games (ASIAD) 19 last year, he clinched a bronze medal in the men's 800m freestyle event, punching his ticket to the Olympics with a time of 7:51.44.

"I felt like I was bursting with emotion, my joy was doubled," Hoàng recalled, his eyes gleaming with pride.

However, the path to this achievement was far from smooth. Hoàng's preparations were marred by an agonising shoulder injury, forcing him to scale back his training and resulting in sub-par performances at the International Trophy Sette Colli 2024 in Italy and the 2024 Asian age group swimming championship in the Philippines.

Determined to overcome these obstacles, Hoàng embarked on a rigorous training regimen in Hungary, under the guidance of renowned coach Peter Nagy.

"I had a two-month training trip heading into the Olympics. I think I still have a lot of shortcomings because my old injury still affects my training. I also had to rest for a while to recover. Currently, my injury is much better now. I hope I will have a healthy body, no more injuries so I can focus on training and competition," Hoàng said.

As Hoàng sets his sights on Paris, he knows that the challenges will be even greater. The Olympics is a stage where the world's best athletes converge and Hoàng is well aware of the physical disparities he must overcome.

"The Olympics are always very different from other events I have participated in. Here, I have to compete with tall and very strong athletes. Maybe because of that, I am under more pressure and not as comfortable as when competing at the ASIAD or SEA Games," he admitted.

Yet, Hoàng's ambitions extend far beyond personal glory. He dreams of making history for Vietnamese swimming, a feat that has eluded the nation since 1998.

"My goal at the upcoming Olympics is to improve on my previous achievements," he said modestly.

As Hoàng continues to push the boundaries of his own abilities, eyes of the nation are fixed upon him, eagerly anticipating the moment when he might etch his name in the historical records of Vietnamese sport.

Gianh River’s otter

Hoàng was born into a poor family of six children in Thanh Tiến Hamlet, Tuyên Hóa District, north central Quảng Bình Province, near the Gianh River.

He is the youngest in the family, and when he was one year old, his parents took him out on a boat to catch fish.

“Hoàng could swim at three years old. We taught him to swim to avoid drowning and he took to it like a duck to water. He could play all day in the water,” said Hoàng’s father, Nguyễn Văn Vinh.

Villagers often called him the otter because he was very good at swimming and was very dark skinned.

Hoàng was called up to the national junior swimming team at the age of 14 and then shone in the national senior team.

At the SEA Games 32 last year, Hoàng brought home three golds and one bronze. While at the SEA Games 31, he took five golds and broke two SEA Games' records.

At the ASIAD 18 in 2018, Hoàng won a silver medal in the 1,500m freestyle event. That same year, when attending the Youth Olympics in Argentina, he took a gold medal in the 800m freestyle category. VNS