Athletics

Bùi Thị Ngân is a rising star on Việt Nam's athletics team. She is a major threat to any rival in the women's 800m and 1,500m races. Photos courtesy of Bùi Thị Ngân

Thanh Hà

HÀ NỘI — Bùi Thị Ngân arrived at the 2026 New Taipei City Athletics Open determined to make her mark, and the Vietnamese middle-distance runner did exactly that, storming to gold in the women's 800m to further cement her status as one of the brightest stars of Việt Nam's athletics team.

Ngân was up against strong opponents at the Open earlier this month. Her drafting tactic helped her avoid wind resistance before she sped up in the last 50m to finish first in the women's 800m event.

It was her second medal at the tournament. Just one day earlier, she took bronze in the 1,500m event.

Bùi Thị Ngân runs in the women's 1,500m event at the 2026 New Taipei City Athletics Open. Photos courtesy of AAA

Ngân was thrilled with her achievement, as it was her first international event of the year and would motivate her to continue winning in upcoming tournaments.

A running IT engineer

Known for her running talent when she was at school, Ngân was scouted to the sport training centre in the former province of Nam Định when she was a Grade 9 student in 2017.

Unlike many athletes who pay less attention to their studies at school while pursuing professional sports careers, Ngân excelled in a mainstream academic environment. She was an outstanding student at Ngô Quyền High School before enrolling in the Information Technology (IT) Faculty at Hà Nội Open University, demonstrating her ability to balance academic excellence with sporting ambitions.

"I am passionate about sports, and fate led me to athletics, but I really enjoyed pursuing my academic studies," said Ngân.

"During high school, I studied in the science stream, focused on mathematics, physics and chemistry. It was really hard to balance my studies with athletics training.

"I attended classes in the morning, trained in the afternoon and went to extra classes at night to keep up with my classmates at school. My high academic record helped me gain admission to Hà Nội Open University."

In her new environment, Ngân found it was even harder to find time for both of her passions.

"I chose IT, a rather difficult field, because I realised the indispensable role of technology in monitoring and evaluating athletes' performances. But there were times when it seemed like I couldn't continue anymore," she said.

"However, the thought of a sustainable future outside of a short-lived athletic career helped me overcome it. This field will allow me to continue my involvement with sports after retirement."

Three years after her first day, Ngân, who specialises in middle-distance races, secured a gold medal in the National Sports Games in 2022. She managed to beat her toughest opponent yet, the reigning SEA Games champion Khuất Phương Anh, in the women's 800m event.

A silver in the 1,500m later made the coaches decide to award her an official slot on the national team to compete at the 32nd SEA Games in 2023.

Ngân was praised for her excellent flexibility and stamina, and relatively good speed in the final sections of a race.

She was even considered to have the potential to replace her talented seniors, including the national running star Nguyễn Thị Oanh, a regionally dominant athlete with 15 gold medals across different editions of the SEA Games.

Talent confirmed

In her regional sporting tournament debut, she successfully pocketed two silvers in the 800m and 1,500m, an unexpected result for both the runner and her coaches.

"It was great! It was a meaningful reward for all the work I had done previously," Ngân recalled.

Bùi Thị Ngân (right) celebrates her 1,500m SEA Games title with a teammate.

She also grabbed gold at the Chinese Taipei Athletics Open 2024 and the Hong Kong Athletics Championship in 2025.

Also in 2025, Ngân did a better job at the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand.

Although she hadn't completely recovered from an injury, Ngân won her first SEA Games title in the 1,500m event and finished second in the 800m.

“Oanh is a legend in the 1,500m event. It was a tremendous source of pressure for me when she was absent from the 32nd SEA Games and I was chosen to step into her shoes,” said Ngân.

“I knew there would be high expectations, but I was determined to do my best and prove that I deserved the opportunity. I'm absolutely overwhelmed with happiness. The journey to the gold was full of challenges. The pressure forced me to be strong and fight my hardest.”

Bùi Thị Ngân (centre) poses with her gold medal and two runners-up at the 2026 New Taipei City Athletics Open.

Now that she has completed her studies and earned a bachelor's degree in IT, at 25 years old Ngân can fully focus on her high-level sports career while being a high-profile content creator delivering information and knowledge to the nation's running community.

A gold medal at the 2026 New Taipei City Athletics Open is a good start to her international campaign this year, and Ngân is aiming to qualify for even bigger events at the 20th Asian Games in Japan in September. — VNS