Harbin, China, July 26, 2026: Vietnamese short tracker Phi Long Nguyen captures the magic and thrill of his sport during the OCA-ISU Asian Short Track Speed Skating Youth Camp in Harbin.
“I love short track speed skating because of the strong push to go faster. It’s very cool,” says Phi Long.
“I want to go faster and faster, stay low and put my hand on the ice. It’s very exciting.”
Phi Long, 17, has been skating for six years and admits his role model is Lin Xiaojun, the men’s 1500m champion at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018.
“My idol is Lin Xiaojun. I watched him on YouTube at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang in 2018 and he was going so fast. After that I knew I wanted to start short track speed skating. I told my father and he agreed.
“I want to skate the same as Lin Xiaojun. I really want to go faster and become stronger like him.”
Phi Long is training in both roller skating and short track and says the roller skating makes his legs stronger – an essential requirement to gain power and speed on the ice in short track.
“I need to have strong legs. It’s really important for short track speed skating,” he adds. “I train in roller skating just to help me in short track.”
Phi Long admits the OCA-ISU youth camp is a big step on the road to his dream – competing at the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps.
“I am training really hard in short track and I want to go to a lot of countries for training,” he says.
Phi Long has plans to study at Beijing Sport University next year, not only to focus on his short track but also to live in the Chinese capital.
“I was watching a video on YouTube and saw a lot of China – so many people and the streets very beautiful. I know in China that the universities are really beautiful so I really want to go there for learning. China has very good sports universities.”
To prepare for this, the Vietnamese teen has already started studying Chinese and aims to learn more every day so that he can talk the language at a high level.
Phi Long has set a clear path towards the next Winter Olympics, including taking part in the junior world cup and junior world championships in Kazakhstan next year as well as the 10th Asian Winter Games in Almaty in 2029.
“In 2030 my aim is to go to the Winter Olympics. I really want to go there – I am very excited about it,” he adds.
“I must train more, train harder and join in competitions so I will have the quality to compete in the Olympics. I really want to go to the Olympics in 2030. This is my dream. I can do it.”
