Since her first appearance in Viet Nam's national sports arena in 2001, Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc, a Da Nang-born female race walker, has had 20 years of dedication to the sports sector of Da Nang, and Viet Nam at large.

Thanh Phuc (in red T-shirt) is aiming to win her 4th SEA Games gold medal of her illustrious career at the 31st SEA Games which is slated to be held in Viet Nam later this year.

Despite facing many difficulties and challenges during that 20-year period, Phuc has still kept her passion for sports alive and her motivation high.

Born in Hoa Vang District’s Hoa Son Commune, Phuc is the 4^th child in a poor family of 5 boys and 2 girls. When she was a child, she did odd jobs to help her parents.

In 2004, after receiving encouragement from her sister Nguyen Thi Tuyet Diem who was a 5,000m runner in the city’s young athlete team, Phuc joined the city’s track and field team.  Several months later, Phuc moved into the walking team after coach Tran Anh Hiep found that she had the specific characteristics of a professional walker.

Over the past 2 decades, Phuc has gained many outstanding achievements at sports events at municipal, national and international levels.

Specifically, in 2005, when only 15, Phuc won her first gold medal at the municipal-level Gifted Young Athletes Championship. Most notably, Phuc claimed gold medal at SEA Games 2011, 2013 and 2015.

In March 2012, Phuc bagged the bronze in the Asian 20km Race Walking Championships in Nomi Shi, Japan. Finishing the event in 1 hour 35.15 mins - nearly three minutes faster than the Olympic B qualifying standard - Phuc earned a berth in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

In London, Phuc was placed 36^th of the 61 competitors in the women’s 20km walk, finishing in a time of 1 hour 33.36 mins.  This result broke her own national record which she had set in Japan.

Prior to the 7^th National Sports Festival 2014, Phuc intended to retire as a professional race walker at the age of 26 when she realised that her future career was quite fuzzy.

However, with the spirit encouragement and many preferential policies for coaches and athletes given by leaders of Da Nang sports sector, Phuc wholeheartedly dedicated herself to local sports sector.

After getting married and delivering her first baby in 2017, once again, Thanh Phuc wanted to leave competition to have more time to take care of her family.

“At that time I had everything. I triumphed at the SEA Games and was in the top three in Asia and had the chance to compete at the Olympics" Phuc said.

She added "I have experienced and tasted the environment at all kind of tournaments both national and international. I thought I had nothing more to strive for, so it was time to stop to care for my family".

However, during her 7-month training period to lose 30kgs, Phuc found that she was still capable of contributing to Da Nang sports sector, so she decided to return to the competitive field.

Thanks to her great efforts, the Da Nang race walker won gold medals in the women's 20km walk at the 2018 National Sports Festival, and in the women’s 10km at the 2019 National Athletics Championship.

Also in 2019, Phuc paid her special attention to the regional SEA Games 10km race where she wants to prove her ability one more time. Unfortunately, she fell and had her ankle injured about 20 days ahead of the competition. And as expected, she only finished in the 4^th place at the regional SEA Games 10km race.

Currently, Phuc now turns her attention to the 31^st SEA Games which is slated to be held from 21 November to 2 December 2021 in Viet Nam.

“Maybe this will be the last SEA Games that I will have competed in when age is a growing obstacle for me. But no matter what, I will try every effort to gain the best results at the upcoming regional sports event as a way to pay gratitude to my family, my coaches, the city’s leaders and my fans who have never left me and always supported me in my tough times” Phuc said.

By BAO AN - Translated by M.D