Hanoi (VNA)🌄 - Nineteen-year-old swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien has earned the Victory Cup, the first ever national sport ‘Oscar' award, as voted by fans and sports journalists and experts from around Vietnam.

The swimmer from the city of Can Tho earned the most votes for the best female athlete among the finalists, which included gymnast Phan thi Ha Thanh and cyclist Nguyen Thi That. "I am very happy and lucky when many people voted for me. It will be a great motivation to push me up in the coming tournaments in the future," said Vien at the awarding ceremony on January 15 in Hanoi. Vien blasted a memorable performance at last year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games over the summer in Singapore, winning an incredible eight gold medals, one silver and one bronze over the course of the multi-national event. She broke eight Games Records during the process. Following that success, Vien became the first Vietnamese swimmer to win a FINA World Cup medal, first snatching up a silver and bronze in the 400m IM and 200m IM events at the Moscow stop of the series. Vien then scored a bronze in the women's 400m IM at the Paris-hosted meet. Vien also took home seven gold and five silver medals from the Asian Age Group Championships which were held in Bangkok last October. She won gold in the 100, 200 and 1500 freestyle, the 200 and 400 IM as well as the 50 backstroke and 100 butterfly. Her silver medal haul included the 400 and 800 freestyle, 100 and 200 backstroke and the 200 butterfly. Finally last year, Vien registered a new meet record in the women's 200m IM while competing at the Military World Games, which took place in the Republic of Korea last October. Chess grandmaster Le Quang Liem received the ‘Oscar' trophy for the male athlete. Liem did not take part in the event as he is studying in the US. Liem in 2015 won a number of titles including the HD Bank Chess tournament, the Spice Cup with his teammates from Webster University and a second position at the Millionaire Chess competition. The "Oscar" statue also came to Dang Thi Dong in the Lifetime Achievement category. Dong is one of the best Vietnamese shooters in history. In her 23 years of competition, Dong grabbed a lot of titles including an Asian record during one of her SEA Games. Other statue receivers are Vu Ngoc Loi as best coach; fencing squad as the best national team, and U8 world chess champion Nguyen Le Cam Hien as the best young and most beloved athlete. Speaking at the January 15 event, Deputy Head of the National Sports Administration Tran Duc Phan said the awards recognise the success of competitors through the year and will be a strong encouragement to lift them up while practising and competing. He hoped that the annual awards therefore will play key role in Vietnam's better results in international competitions in the future.-VNA