HERO: Chinese swimming coach Huang Guohui (right) has trained No 1 swimmer of the country, Nguyen Huy Hoang (left) for the past five years. Photo danviet.vn

“Coach Huang passed away on August 11. We are in isolation, so we don’t know the situation yet and we are waiting for the result of the police investigation," Tran Duc Phan, head of the Vietnamese delegation to the Tokyo Olympics and deputy director of the Vietnam Sport Administration, confirmed.

According to Phan, the coach received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Huang and members of the Vietnamese delegation returned home from Japan on August 4, after completing the competition at the Tokyo Olympics. After returning to Hanoi, the team are in isolation for 14 days at a hospital in the capital.

Phan said the death of coach Huang is a great loss for Vietnamese swimming.

At the Tokyo Olympics 2020, the Chinese expert was the only professional coach for swimmers Nguyen Huy Hoang and Nguyen Thi Anh Vien. He rarely appeared in front of cameras, but has been with the Vietnamese swimming team for many years.

Under his guidance, Vietnamese swimmers won the 800m bronze medal and 1,500m silver medal at the Asian Games (ASIAD) 2008 alongside many gold medals at the 23rd, 26th, 29th and 30th SEA Games. At the last SEA Games in 2019 in the Philippines, Huang’s swimmers contributed a total of five gold medals.

Huang also directly trained No 1 swimmer of the country Hoang for the past five years at the Can Tho National Sports Training Centre. He helped Hoang improve and gain achievements, notably the 2018 Youth Olympic gold medal, the 2019 SEA Games gold medal and the 2018 ASIAD silver medal.

Huang brought his family to live in Vietnam in 2015.

On his Facebook page, Hoang posted a status with a photo of coach Huang teaching young swimmers.

"May you rest in peace. We will always be grateful and remember you forever. You will always be in my heart," said Hoang.

Source: Vietnam News

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