Hanoi (AFP)

Medal hopeful for Vietnam in Tokyo, Nguyen Van Duong is a small build, nicknamed "little chicken" by his first trainer when he started boxing at age 13.

More than ten years later, the nickname has stuck and the athlete will be the first Vietnamese boxer to compete in the Games since 1988.

"I'm going to the Olympics with the ultimate goal of winning a medal," the 24-year-old featherweight told AFP from his training camp in Ho Chi Minh City (south).

He still can't get over going to the Olympics, the crowning of a hitherto exemplary journey from his industrial province of northern Vietnam to the light of the biggest sporting event in the world.

He landed his participation in 2020, in a match against a more experienced Thai boxer which he won by knockout in the 47th second.

"I couldn't believe I had won the game so quickly," he recalls.

A few months earlier, the same opponent had beaten him on points in the final of the Southeast Asian Games.

A teenager, weighing just 33 kilograms, he one day showed up for a training session with the Vietnamese police boxing team, to which his cousin belonged.

- The terror of all his adversaries -

Turning to him, the trainer said, "You brought this little chicken here. How long will it take to make him a boxer?"

But Duong quickly exceeded all expectations: champion of Vietnam among young people in 2010, he joined the national team and became the terror of all his opponents in the ring.

Getting up at 5:30 a.m. every morning, he works his physical condition by practicing running and lifting dumbbells, aware of the enormous challenge that awaits him.

"Qualifying and the Olympics are two totally different things, so I have to improve in terms of technique, tactics, speed ... everything."

But the pandemic has made his training particularly difficult, with much of 2020 spent cloistered at home and preparation tournaments canceled.

“When I got the ticket to the Olympics I was in my best shape, physically and mentally .... I wanted to keep fighting, but the Games were postponed and I felt a bit depressed . "

Despite everything, Duong remains determined to shine at the Olympics and is counting the days between him and Tokyo.

"I will do everything to give my best performance, to bring victory to my homeland, to my country and to all boxing fans," he concludes.

© 2021 AFP