As planned, some of major sporting events at municipal and national levels will restart in September, more than three months after they were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Promising talented swimmer Nguyen Huu Kim Son

However, the upcoming national and international sports events are putting greater pressure on Da Nang’s athletes than their rivals in other localities nationwide.

Since its onset, the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak has spread to parts of Da Nang. The shutdown of training centres imposed by the ongoing citywide social distancing measures which have become commonplace to curtail the spread of the disease, have disrupted many regular aspects of lives, including sports training activities, of local athletes.

As a result, the Da Nang Athlete Training Centre under the municipal Department of Culture and Sports has put in place drastic measures to stem the spread of the deadly virus.

All members of the city’s Dong Nghe Boat Racing Club, and the Diving and Swimming teams, are allowed to attend indoor training courses in their dedicated training areas, whilst other athletes are asked to focus on home workouts or using Zoom to join online classes delivered by foreign coaches.

Director of the city’s Athlete Training Centre Nguyen Dong Hai said that, like other sectors, the city’s sports sector is certainly not immune to Covid-19.

In particular, short and long-term training courses abroad dedicated for the city's talented athletes to prepare for the 31^st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2021 have been cancelled due to travel restrictions issued by the Vietnamese government in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. For example, talented swimmers Hoang Quy Phuoc and Nguyen Huu Kim Son couldnot be sent to Hungary for short-term training courses.

In an effort to prepare for the forthcoming national and international sports events, including the qualifying rounds of the Olympic Tokyo 2020 and the SEA Games 31, leaders of the city’s sports sector have invited 4 foreign experts in rowing, track and field, sailing and tennis table to help athletes enhance their professional skills. However, these foreign experts are unable to enter Viet Nam due to travel restrictions as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, and they have to use Zoom to deliver their online lectures.

Director Hai remarked that a total of 32 sports events at both municipal and national levels which were due to take place in June and July have been postponed. Certainly, these sports events will be held in high density for the remaining months of the year, hereby putting excessive stress on athletes.

By BAO AN - Translated by M.D