Victory Cup 2019: Swimmers named best athletes of the year

Hoang toppled heavyweights in football and archery to take the honour in the Men's category. At the 30^th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, the 19-year-old pocketed two golds and one silver, while breaking two Games records and meeting the A standard for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Meanwhile, the Women category saw Anh Vien surpass track and field star Nguyen Thi Oanh and weightlifter Vuong Thi Huyen to be voted the winner. The result was well deserved for the 24-year-old swimmer following her exceptional SEA Games performance in the Philippines (clinching six golds and two silvers). This is the third time the Can Tho-born athlete has received such a noble individual title.

16-year-old Tran Hung Nguyen completed a hat-trick of prestigious individual awards for the swimming team, as he was named the Young Athlete of the Year, with two gold medals and one record achieved at the 30^th SEA Games.

Ahead of their important match against DPR Korea at the 2020 AFC U23 Championship, Park Hang-seo was strongly motivated as he took the "Foreign Coach of the Year" award at the 2019 Victory Cup gala on Wednesday. This is the first time the category has been implemented in the Victory Cup award system, increasing the total number of prizes to 11.

In 2019, Park reaped success at various levels, including leading the Vietnam U23s through to the finals of the 2020 AFC U23 Championship, and coaching the Vietnam men's national team to attain brilliant results in the 2022 World Cup Asian qualifiers (now topping Group G and standing a great chance of advancing to the third qualification round).

In addition, under the leadership of the Republic of Korea tactician, Vietnam U22s brought home the first SEA Games men's football gold medal for Vietnam after 60 years of waiting. With such feats, Park's triumph at the 2019 Victory Cup was a well-deserved reward. At the same time, Vietnam U22s were also honoured as the "Team of the Year" following their SEA Games success.

Tran Nhat Hoang (track and field) was named the "Favourite Athlete of the Year', while the 'Moment of the Year' award went to Pham Thi Hong Le (track and field), who collapsed at the finishing line and had to be assisted by another to step on the medal podium of the women's marathon event at the 2019 SEA Games.

Leading his athletes to win five SEA Games gold medals, trainer Tran Van Sy of the track and field team was named the 'Coach of the Year'.

The 'Lifetime Achievement' award was presented to Bui Tu Liem, 94, former Director of the Sport Event Department and first General Secretary of the Vietnam Olympic Committee.

The "Disabled Athlete of the Year' title went to Cao Ngoc Hung of the track and field team.

The annual Victory Cup, dubbed as the "Oscars of Vietnamese sports", is jointly organised by the Vietnam Sports Administration, Vietnam Television Cable Corporation and Vietcontent Sports Company, aiming to honour the best individuals and collectives of Vietnamese sports of the year.

(Source: NDO)