Vovinam advances toward Olympics 2028: Historic opportunity or overambitious dream?

On August 14, 2026, in Osaka, as the first rays of morning light illuminated the Expo 2026 stadium, a delegation from the World Vovinam Federation entered the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee to present their candidacy dossier for including this discipline in the 2028 Olympic program in Los Angeles. This was not a flamboyant press conference, nor a spectacular performance. It was 90 minutes of breath-holding silence, where statistical figures, technical analysis videos, and social impact assessments were weighed against 32 other disciplines competing for the sole remaining spot in the Olympic program. I have been following Vovinam since 2026, when I was a 22-year-old young reporter assigned to cover the national Vovinam championship in Ho Chi Minh City. At that time, Vovinam was still a purely domestic discipline, with the majority of practitioners competing only within Vietnam and the Vietnamese diaspora overseas. Eighteen years later, the figure of 5 million practitioners across 70 countries that the delegation presented to the International Olympic Committee is not a number that came naturally. It is the result of a grassroots system-building strategy, from small martial arts schools in Binh Thanh district to training centers in France, Germany, and Japan. What caught my attention was not the figure of 5 million, but the way Vovinam approached the requirement for Olympic universality. Over 15 years of following discussions about bringing traditional martial arts into the Olympics, I have witnessed too many failures for similar reasons: over-reliance on a single country or cultural community. Taekwondo, after being included in the Olympics in 2026, struggled to maintain its Korean identity while simultaneously having to "internationalize" to meet IOC criteria. Karate, despite being included in Tokyo 2026, still faces controversies over its scoring system and accusations of referee bias. Vovinam, as a latecomer, has the advantage of looking at these mistakes and building a smarter roadmap. The Vovinam delegation brought not just impressive numbers. They brought a standardized technical classification system aligned with international standards, a competition rulebook translated into 12 languages, and more importantly, a social impact study showing that Vovinam has become a community integration tool in many European countries. This is the point I believe many people are overlooking in discussions about Vovinam entering the Olympics: not technique, not scale, but the social value this discipline brings. However, the road ahead is far from smooth. The International Olympic Committee, according to my close sources, is examining three main criteria for any discipline wanting to join the program: global universality, television viability, and alignment with Olympic values. Vovinam has demonstrated universality through the figure of 5 million practitioners across 70 countries. But television viability is a big question. Traditional Vovinam matches have non-fixed durations, depending on developments on the mat. Meanwhile, the Olympics always prioritizes disciplines that can be packaged into neat television time slots, easily understandable for general audiences. This is where I see Vovinam facing a crucial crossroads. Will they accept adjusting their competition format to meet Olympic television requirements, or will they preserve their identity and risk being eliminated in the final review round? The answer is not as simple as choosing A or B. In the history of martial arts included in the Olympics, some adjustments have caused disciplines to lose their original identity. Wushu, despite having a presence in the Olympics with Taolu, is still struggling to balance competition requirements with traditional artistic value. Vovinam, if not careful, could fall into the same trap. Another factor that few in the Vietnamese media are discussing is the relationship between Vovinam and other major martial arts organizations worldwide. If Vovinam is included in the Olympics, it will be the first martial art of Southeast Asian origin in the history of the modern Olympic program. This carries not only symbolic significance but also practical impact on resource allocation and international media attention to the region. I have seen something similar happen with Judo when it was introduced in 2026: increased investment in martial arts infrastructure in Japan, an explosion of international tournaments, and ultimately the development of a global martial arts ecosystem centered on Judo. However, I must also acknowledge a reality that many in the Vovinam community may not want to hear: the Olympic ambition could be a double-edged sword. If Vovinam concentrates too many resources on meeting IOC criteria, they may inadvertently drift away from the practitioner base in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, where this discipline has its strongest foundation. This is a lesson I have seen repeat itself in sports many times: when a discipline pursues international recognition excessively, sometimes the very identity they are trying to preserve gets eroded from within. The International Olympic Committee's decision is expected to be announced in March 2027. Until then, Vovinam remains on a narrow path between historic opportunity and overambitious dream. What I know for certain is: no choice is perfect, and no path is without risk. But what matters more is how the Vovinam community receives this discussion. If they see this as an opportunity to reflect on the discipline's identity and future, then regardless of the final outcome, the journey has meaning. But if they see this as a goal that must be achieved at all costs, then perhaps the preparation process itself has already begun eroding the values that Vovinam has built over more than 80 years of existence.