Phùng Kim Quang competes in the National Athletics Championship in 2020. The teenager expects to win a medal at the SEA Games later this year. Photo courtesy of Phùng Kim Quang Athletics Thanh Hà HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam have never won a gold medal in the men's walking event at the regional Southeast Asian (SEA) Games despite having previously qualified for the Olympics in the sport. Phùng Kim Quang is on a mission to change that. Walking was little more than a blip on the Vietnamese sporting radar until siblings Nguyễn Thị Thanh Phúc and Nguyễn Thành Ngưng pocketed gold and bronze in the women's and men's races at the 25th Games in 2011. Since then, with better support, Việt Nam have dominated the women’s discipline with four titles. However, the men’s crown is still out of the reach despite three silver medals. Teenager Quang is the big Vietnamese hope in the sport after recording some outstanding performances at recent domestic competitions. He is the record holder of the junior tournament and in the top three of the national championship. Fate Quang was born in Ba Vì District, in the outskirts of Hà Nội, in 2003. The naughty little boy loved and played well in all sports such as badminton, shuttlecock, football and track-and-field. After dominating school competitions he became a member of the district athletics team. Two years later, Quang was among several boys introduced to the walking event, a new sport in the city in 2015. His coach Nguyễn Văn Toản did not pick him at first but when the team did not have enough athletes, Quang was recruited after a second trial. But Toản, who coached Phạm Thị Thu Trang to the SEA Games women's title in 2019, gradually found the thin boy was suitable for the sport in which posture is of prime importance while arm, shoulder and leg actions must be well controlled to ensure balance. After four years in the sport, Quang grabbed his first gold at the National Youth Athletics …
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