From "youngest sibling" to "eldest sibling"
On September 22nd, at the Toyohashi Gymnasium, Nguyen Ngoc Tram, along with Bui Ngoc Nhi and Hoang Thi Thu Uyen, defeated Iran 5-0 in the women's team kata final, bringing home the first gold medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation at the 20th Asian Games. After completing their performance, the three girls hugged each other and burst into tears. For Tram, it was a moment of release from the pressure that had been building up for a long time.
That gold medal was even more special because Tram was the only member of the team that won the 19th Asian Games to continue competing at the 20th Asian Games. Three years earlier in Hangzhou, she competed alongside Nguyen Thi Phuong and Luu Thi Thu Uyen, with Tram being the youngest member of the team. At the 20th Asian Games, her two former teammates were no longer by her side, replaced by Bui Ngoc Nhi and Hoang Thi Thu Uyen. From being the "youngest," Tram became the most experienced member of the new team.
Changes in the team lineup led to changes in roles. In Hangzhou, Tram mainly received guidance from her seniors. In Aichi-Nagoya, she observed and supported her two younger teammates, especially during moments when they lost focus. When needed, Tram reminded her teammates to only pay attention to the person performing the routine with them, to repeat the movements slowly, maintain the rhythm, and only then increase the speed. For her, helping her teammates stay calm was just as important as performing well in her own routine.
To ensure the new team developed synergy, Tram, along with Bui Ngoc Nhi and Hoang Thi Thu Uyen, spent about 4-5 weeks training in Osaka. Some days, all three trained three times a day, from morning to evening; weekends were also dedicated to training. Spending time together helped them better understand each movement, speed, and coordination. Tram called it a "honing" process, so that when they stepped onto the mat, the three could compete as "three as one."
But that preparation began before the training trip to Japan . Coach Do Thi Thu Ha and the athletes had been studying and practicing the highly difficult movements since the beginning of the year. The team watched videos of strong competitors and consulted techniques from other sports to incorporate lifting, catching, jumping, spinning, and landing movements into their performance, requiring precise coordination between all three. Some movements could result in injury from a single landing error. But it was precisely these exercises that created the highlight of the competition, while also demanding absolute trust in each other from the three girls.
Behind the medal
Those efforts were further challenged when Tram suffered an injury just before the 20th Asian Games. In early September, while stretching in Osaka, she suddenly felt pain in her right heel. Initially, Tram thought it was just a cramp, but then she couldn't stand or walk normally and needed assistance.
As the day to arrive in Nagoya approached, the training camp only had three athletes and one coach, with no doctor accompanying them. Trâm herself questioned her chances of competing in the ASIAD. However, she recovered quickly in Japan and returned to training. The challenge continued right before the competition. Coach Đỗ Thị Thu Hà had the entire team perform the entire routine and position three times in about five minutes. After the high-intensity warm-up and training, Trâm's knee was sore and swollen.
She entered the final with a body that wasn't in its best condition. But when the competition began, Tram almost forgot about the pain. Before her were her two young teammates, the gold medal that needed protecting, and the responsibility the whole team had carried throughout the preparation process. Tram shared that they strived not only for themselves, but also for their coach, leaders, family, and those who placed their faith in the team. Perhaps that's why the tears only appeared after it was all over. The three girls hugged each other, cried, and looked back on the months when they almost didn't allow themselves to think about failure.
Sharing about her injury, Tram spoke calmly, because, according to her, it's a fairly common story for professional athletes. Having studied Karate since she was a third-grade girl and continuously involved in the sport for nearly 16 years, Tram's back still aches after an injury sustained 8 years ago. In a conversation after returning to Vietnam, Tram mentioned many changes in herself, not only in terms of her professional skills. For her, the bigger change lies in her awareness of responsibility.
After becoming a police officer, Tram felt that she was no longer competing just for herself and her family. Each time she stepped onto the mat, it was now connected to the awareness of competing for the Fatherland, for the national flag. Therefore, in Tram's mind, each medal belonged not only to the three athletes on the mat, but also to the coaching staff, teammates, family, and the units that had supported her.
Behind that responsibility were long periods away from home. Before the final match, Tram called her family and asked her parents to light incense before the competition. After completing her performance and knowing she had won and was allowed to use her phone, she immediately contacted home. Tram's older sister was the first to receive the news, while her parents watched their daughter on television and congratulated her after her victory.
Returning home for visits wasn't easy for Tram either. There were periods when she only went home once every few months. After returning from the 20th Asian Games, Tram only had about 2-3 hours at home before resuming her activities and work. She admitted that she had almost never had a full day with her family after returning. From her experiences, Tram concluded with a simple message for young athletes: "Luck comes from effort." For her, the more effort you put in, the more opportunities for "luck" will come; don't be afraid of difficulties, don't be afraid of fatigue, and try your best so you won't have any regrets later.
Looking at Tram's journey, that saying isn't a philosophy that only emerged after success. It was formed from the years she dedicated to Karate: from a young girl who started training in school to a national team athlete; from the "youngest" at ASIAD 19 to the "senior" at ASIAD 20; from someone who received guidance from seniors to someone who supported younger teammates.
Tram didn't think too much about whether she was "making history" or not. When asked about being part of two consecutive teams that won gold medals at the ASIAD, she said that what mattered most to her was still keeping the color of the medal.
Ahead of the female athlete from the People's Police Force are new goals, from the National Sports Games to the 34th SEA Games in Malaysia . She wants to continue maintaining her achievements and stand alongside younger teammates.
Based on her experiences at the 20th Asian Games and her journey with Karate, Tram believes that "luck," if it exists at all, is simply a reward for all the effort put in. Because behind the gold medal are months of training, injuries, and days away from family... It all started with something very simple: relentless effort.
Source: https://cand.vn/van-dong-vien-nguyen-ngoc-tram-may-man-den-tu-no-luc-post823898.html
