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Nguyen Thai Binh, a bichon of sun and hairy haired, swapping his thongs for bulky boots before snowboarding on the sand dunes of southern Vietnam – the unlikely training ground for young athletes of all ages. winter of the country.
Nguyen Thai Binh, kissed by the sun and long-haired hair, swapping her thongs for bulky boots before snowboarding on the sand dunes of southern Vietnam – the unlikely training ground for young athletes 39, the country's winter with mountain ambitions.
Binh is one of the best Vietnamese snowboarders and a pioneer in the promotion of winter sports in South East Asia, where snowfall is almost unheard of.
But the battle has been tough for athletes like him, who face a lack of funding, a lack of public interest and few training facilities, including snow-capped mountains.
"This sport is so new to the Vietnamese and we do not have any snow on which to exercise," said 29-year-old Binh, looking for California in a Quicksilver cap and a bright swim shorts.
Although the mountains of northern Sapa in Vietnam experience occasional dust in the winter, there are no snowy slopes for aspiring skiers and snowboarders in this tropical country.
Instead, Binh embarks on the rolling sand dunes of Mui Ne, best known for their perfect panoramas and spectacular mountain bike tours to tourists in the sunny Binh Thuan province in the south of the country.
Binh made his international debut at the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, in 2017, joining the first-ever Vietnamese team to take part in the long-held tournament dominated by Japan, South Korea and China.
Although the mountains of northern Sapa in Vietnam experience occasional dust in the winter, there are no snowy slopes for aspiring skiers and snowboarders in the tropical country
It was a lifetime dream for Binh, who had fallen in love with the sport, a skinny kid, so skinny that he was ridiculed by his clbadmates because he looked like a drug addict.
Anxious to gain weight, he tries martial arts, then kitesurf and longboard before starting to practice sand surfing in 2007.
Like most of his teammates, the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo were his first steps on the snow. Skiers too had never trained on the sand, using tree branches as poles of slalom on the sandy slopes of Mui Ne.
"I was hesitant, I was training on the sand dunes for a while, so I had the technique, but the snow was so slippery," Binh told AFP.
Broken limbs, frozen fingers
It was an eventful week for the seven athletes who competed for Vietnam.
Snowboarder Nguyen Binh Binh Binh made his international debut at the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, in 2017, joining Vietnam's first team to participate in the tournament long dominated by Japan, South Korea and China.
Many of them did not have the appropriate winter clothes and froze if they stayed too long outside. Skier Pham Tien Dat fell during a slalom practice, broke his shoulder and could not compete. Vietnamese journalists covering the games became ill and were hospitalized.
As for Binh, a sports junkie, his other hobbies have been very useful in Sapporo.
"Binh was learning fast thanks to his skills in longboarding and surfing," said Le Quan, the coach of the Vietnam team.
Vietnam left without any medals, but a lot of pride.
"We went to Sapporo without aiming for a high rank, but to challenge ourselves," Quan told AFP.
There were eight teams from Southeast Asia to the 2017 Games, the highest number since 1986, when the Philippines became the first country in the region to compete.
The Asian Winter Games in Sapporo were the first time that Vietnamese snowboarders and skiers competed on the snow, having only trained on the sand, using tree limbs as slalom poles on the sandy slopes. from Mui Ne.
The General Director of the Olympic Council of Asia, Husain Al Musallam, said that winter sports have developed among the athletes of Southeast Asia "in a very good sense" and expects that the number of participants increases for the next Games in 2021.
Until now, many athletes have been skaters, thanks to the proliferation of rinks in shopping centers and sports centers in the region, including Vietnam.
Further afield, countries with warm climates, from Ghana to Mexico to Nigeria, have embarked on winter sports.
The most famous tropical team is perhaps Jamaica's bobsleigh troupe, whose story is told in the popular comedy of the 90's "Cool Runnings".
Money is the main obstacle to winter sports in hot countries.
The Vietnamese communist government has invested money in skating and ice hockey, but Binh said snowboarding remains a neglected sport.
Alongside Vietnam, countries with warm climates, from Ghana to Mexico to Nigeria, have embarked on winter sports in recent years.
"Snowboarding is struggling to grow here because there is no snow and as Vietnam does not have much money to send athletes to the area. foreigner to train, "he said.
Binh hopes to participate in the next Asian Winter Games in 2021, if he can find a sponsor.
Until then, his main goal was longboarding, with the goal of the Games in Southeast Asia, the Philippines, later this year.
Skateboarding debuted at last year's competition and will be premiered at the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.
But Binh says that snowboarding is still his first pbadion and he is proud to have helped him grow in Vietnam.
"Before the competition (in Sapporo), nobody knew winter sports, no one could have imagined that we could have a team."
Typhoon Doksuri killed 4 people in central Vietnam
© 2019 AFP
Quote:
Sandman: The Vietnamese snowboarder drives on the dunes (May 28, 2019)
recovered on May 28, 2019
at https://phys.org/news/2019-05-sandman-vietnamese-snowboarder-dunes.html
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