Vu Thi Huong

HA NOI  ( VNS) —Viet Nam's sprinting queen Vu Thi Huong has decided to withdraw from the national teamcontesting the upcoming Southeast Asian Games because of her health.

"I have devoted myself to Vietnamese athletics for 15 years. I have been injured during training and competition. I squeezed my strength to win two golds in the recent National Sports Games and three golds in the Asian Student Sports Festival. It's time for me to rest," the 29-year-old athlete said.

After those two events, the Thai Nguyen-born player had to stay in the hospital for nearly one month because of exhaustion.

"My doctor asked me not to train and compete in big events anymore," Huong said.

Lam Quang Thanh, deputy head of the National Sports Administration, said Huong was "a real talent" who made "too many sacrifices for her career", citing major difficulties like traumas and changes of coach and training environment.

"My current club An Giang allows me to rest and recover my strength. After Tet, I will continue studying at Bac Ninh Sports College," said Huong, who represented Viet Nam at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

The track and field athlete won a silver medal in the women's 100m event and bronze medal in the women's 200m event at the 2007 Asian Athletics Championship in Amman, Jordan. She also won a bronze medal in the women's 100m and silver medal in the 200m event at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in 2009.

At recent Southeast Asian Games editions, she has dominated the short distances. She won gold medals in both the 100m and 200m at the 2007 Games in Thailand and the 100m gold and 200m silver at the 2005 Games in the Philippines. — VNS