A ceremony to wish the Vietnamese team every success at the 2012 London Olympic Games was held on July 8 in Hanoi.
The gymnasts and track and field athletes will leave for the teams
training camp in Bradford, England, on July 10 and the rest will
follow on July 20 to join competitors from over 200 countries and
territories across the world.
The Vietnamese team at
this games has 56 members, including 18 athletes competing in 11
sports, namely track and field events, gymnastics, swimming,
weightlifting, taekwondo, Judo, shooting, fencing, rowing, badminton and
wrestling.
The Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports
and Tourism Le Khanh Hai, said he was delighted, as this is the largest
number of athletes that Vietnam has ever sent to an Olympic Games,
which reflects the development of sport in Vietnam over the years
and there are high hopes of a medal.
At the 2004
Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, Vietnam sent 13 athletes to
compete in 8 sports, while only 11 representatives qualified for the
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in 8 sports.
Weightlifting, martial artists and gymnasts are Vietnam 's best hopes of a medal at the forthcoming London Olympics.
Lam Quang Thanh, the head of Vietnam ’s Olympic delegation, said that
the athletes were close to medal standards and they had received top
class support and intensive training to increase their chances of
success in London.
"We divided the team into two halves.
One of the groups comprise of potential medal winners and any kind of
medal would be a success. The other group will have to record their
personal bests in this competition to have any chance of a medal," said
Thanh.
He added that other competitors such as shooters,
rowers, fencers and badminton players could also make a big impression
at the tournament, which begins on July 27.
The swimming and
track and field athletes that hold little chance of collecting a medal
have just been asked to go out and do their best.-VNA