闘う相手は貧困と性差別　ベトナム初の女子ボクシング世界チャンピオン

【ホーチミンＡＦＰ＝時事】女子ボクサーのグエン・ティ・トゥ・ニ選手（２５）は、貧困と性別に基づく偏見を相手に闘い、ベトナム初の世界チャンピオンとなった。（写真はホーチミンの国立スポーツセンターで練習をするベトナム初の女子ボクシング世界チャンピオン、グエン・ティ・トゥ・ニ選手）
　昨年１０月に行われたＷＢＯ女子世界ミニマム級タイトルマッチで、挑戦者のニ選手は王座防衛に臨んだ日本の多田悦子選手と対戦。予想を覆す勝利を収め、プロとしてわずか５試合目で世界王者の座に就いた。
　ベトナムでは女性のスポーツ、とりわけ格闘技への参加は嘲笑されがちだ。そんな保守的な社会で、恵まれない境遇から立ち上がったニ選手の勝利は、画期的な偉業だった。
　ボクシングを始めたのは、１３歳の時だ。ホーチミンの貧困地区の小さな家に家族９人で住んでいたニ選手は、コーチに素質を見いだされ、トレーニングにすべてをささげると決心した。「もっとお金を稼ぎたかったので、一生懸命練習しました」と話す。

■偏見と闘う
　ニ選手は自分の求めているものが分かっていた。家族を養う足しにするため必死に働いて１日数セントしか稼げない生活から抜け出すことだ。
　「路上で宝くじ券を売ったり、飲食店で働いたり。家計の足しになることは何でもやりました」
　対戦した多田選手は自分より身長も高く、プロとして２０勝４敗３分けの記録を持つ経験豊富な王者だ。だが、ジャッジの判定は全員一致でニ選手の勝利だった。多田選手はもとより、ニ選手本人にも衝撃だった。
　「勝ったことが信じられませんでした。チャンピオンベルトをベッドで横に置いて、一晩中眠れませんでした」

■岐路
　共産主義と儒教の伝統が混在するベトナムではスポーツをする女性に対する偏見が根強く、ボクサーとしての道を歩むニ選手はばかにされてきた。
　「近所の人たちはいつも祖母に、なぜ私に男の子みたいなボクシングをさせるのかと質問していました」とニ選手は言う。
　「私が選んだ道が自分に合っていることを彼らに示すために、精いっぱいやってきました。私はボクシングへの情熱で、生活費を稼ぎました」
　王座獲得から半年がたった今、ニ選手は岐路に立たされている。プロとして試合に出るか、アマチュア大会に出場するかだ。
　ニ選手によると、ＷＢＯの王座は１８０日以内にタイトル防衛戦を行わないと剥奪されてしまう。だが、トルコで開催中の国際ボクシング協会（ＩＢＡ）のアマチュア女子世界選手権に、すでにベトナム代表として出場を決めている。
　ニ選手はＷＢＯのチャンピオンベルトを失うことに未練はないと言う。
　「今の目標はトルコでメダルを獲得することです。そして、アマチュアとプロ、どちらでもやれるのをみんなに示すことです」とニ選手は語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/05/23-13:58）

From her youth spent scraping a living on the streets, Nguyen Thi Thu Nhi has battled poverty and sexist prejudice to become Vietnam's first boxing world champion.
The 25-year-old scored an enormous upset over defending champion Etsuko Tada of Japan in October to claim the World Boxing Organisation mini-flyweight belt in just her fifth professional fight.
It was a remarkable triumph for an athlete who rose from humble beginnings in a conservative society where women's participation in sport -- especially combat events -- is often sneered at.
Nhi's journey began when she turned to boxing as a 13-year-old struggling with her grades at school.
Spotting raw talent, a coach told Nhi she had the potential to make the city team.
Living in a tiny house with nine family members in a tough part of Ho Chi Minh City, Nhi dedicated herself completely to her training, desperate to find a route out of her tough surroundings.
I wanted to earn more money, so I tried to train hard, she told AFP.
I had no time to go out and have fun. I was training almost every day of the week.
- Fighting prejudice -
Nhi did not know where boxing would lead her, but she knew what she wanted: to escape from a life of desperate toil, making just a few cents a day on the streets to help feed the family.
I earned money selling lottery tickets in the street, serving noodles in restaurants. I did anything that could bring me money to help my family, Nhi said after a session at the national sports training centre in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's economic capital.
Her unanimous points victory to dethrone the taller, vastly more experienced Tada -- the Japanese fighter has a professional record of 20 wins, four defeats and three draws -- came as a shock even to Nhi.
I could not believe I had won. I stayed awake the whole night with the championship belt next to me in bed, she said.
In Vietnam, where communism mixes with traditional Confucian beliefs, misogynistic attitudes about women in sport persist and Nhi had to endure taunts as she trod her path.
My neighbours used to constantly question my grandmother why she let me do boxing like boys, Nhi said.
I had to try my best to show them that the path I had chosen was right for me. I earned my living by my passion for boxing. I was better than them.
Nhi said the challenges she faced made her all the more determined to succeed.
I always tried my best and pushed my body to the limit since I was a little girl. I still think I am weaker as compared to the men, despite the fact that I have always had to show I am tough, she said.
- Career crossroads -
Six months after her triumph, Nhi's boxing career is at a crossroads as she seeks to juggle professional bouts with amateur events.
Vietnamese athletes face the delicate task of balancing commitments to professional promoters with obligations to the state sports management authority.
Nhi told AFP that the WBO are to strip her title belt for failing to defend it within a mandatory 180-day window, after she opted instead to represent her country at the International Boxing Association amateur women's world championships beginning on Monday in Turkey.
She said she was not sad about losing the belt and, after pulling out of the South East Asian Games in Vietnam, which also begin next week, was fully focused on the worlds.
My objective now is to win a medal in Turkey, to prove to all that I can go on both the two paths, amateur and professional, Nhi said.
Wherever her career heads, boxing has transformed Nhi's life -- from once earning next to nothing she now has a stable income from the state as a professional athlete topped up by appearances on TV and entertainment shows.
My objective, she said, is saving enough to afford a small apartment or a house of my own.