Athlete Lê Tú Chinh will compete at the upcoming Speed Cup. Photo plo.vn

Athletics

HCM CITY — The Thống Nhất Speed Cup this year will take place at Thống Nhất Stadium in HCM City on April 22-24.

The event is expected to lure top national athletes such as SEA Games champion Lê Tú Chinh, Khuất Phương Anh, Phan Văn Hoàng, Nguyễn Thị Ngọc, and Lê Ngọc Phúc.

Participants will compete in 31 categories for men and women.

The 23-year-old athlete Chinh of HCM City is considered the 'Queen of Speed' in Southeast Asia as she won two gold medals in the women’s 100m and 200m at the 2017 SEA Games and defended her gold medal in the 100m at the Games 2019.

At the National Athletics Championship last year, Chinh won five gold medals and is expected to continue to shine at the Speed Cup.

Olympic dreams

With the goal of earning a spot at the Tokyo Olympics, Quách Công Lịch,  Quách Thị Lan and their teammates in the 400m group will travel to Poland to attend the 2021 IAAF World Relays which is scheduled to take place on May 1 – 2 so they will miss the Speed Cup.

The 2021 IAAF World Relays is the last chance for the Vietnamese team to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Previously, the Vietnamese 4x400m mixed relay team won a gold medal at the SEA Games 30 with a time of 3:19.50, making them 17th in the world.

To qualify for Japan, the 400m running team will have to be among the top 16 teams.

To prepare for the event in Poland, the Vietnamese team have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

They will leave for Poland on April 29. — VNS