Most recently, track and field athletes in Da Nang have returned to outdoor training after more than one month of being confined to their rooms due to the coronavirus-forced social distancing measures issued by Da Nang government.

Promising high jumper Nguyen Pham Hoai Yen

Track and field athletes are now very busy in preparing for their forthcoming important sports events.

In particular, they have targeted to reach between 6 and 8 gold medals in the categories of running, jumping, hammer throwing, and walking at the 2020 Age Group Athletics Championships.

At the National Athletics Championships 2020, they have set a target of winning 2 to 3 gold medals in the men's walking and hammer throwing events.

Coach of the city’s Athletics Team Tran Anh Hiep expressed his concern about some anticipated challenges facing by local athletes in the light of Covid-19 outbreak.

“One of the challenges faced by athletes during 40-day lockdown period is the far-reaching disruption in training and daily routines” Mr Hiep said.

Mr Hiep remarked that track and field athletes must follow the restrictions but still trained to the best of their abilities, with the focus on home workouts to maintain their fitness during the city's strict social distancing period .

Many facilities such as running tracks and sports fields were forced to close to tackle Covid-19. It was a quite more challenging for the track and field athletes who depend on equipment for their events such as walking, hammer throwing and jumping.

In addition, many sports events will be held in high density for the remaining months of the year, hereby putting excessive stress on athletes. Therefore, it is difficult for them to achieve the best results in the upcoming sports competitions.

As planned, in the coming week, some athletes will be allowed to join sports training activities at the Da Nang Athlete Training Centre’s gymnasium. However, it will be better for track and field athletes to join training activities outdoor, especially on their running tracks or jumping holes.

Therefore, leaders of the Da Nang Athlete Training Centre and the Athletics Team have recently asked for permission from the Da Nang authorities to allow track and field athletes to return to training at the Chi Lang Stadium in a bid to help them gain required level of fitness and technical quality for forthcoming sports competitions.

However, everyone knows that it's quite difficult to get the proposal accepted because the virus hasn't gone away.

Thus, both coach Tran Anh Hiep and his trainees have to do their utmost to overcome challenges ahead in order to realise their target of bringing home as many gold medals as possible.

By NGUYEN AN - Translated by M.D