Vietnamese swimming star Nguyen Thi Anh Vien. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese sports has won 20 places in 10 sports to the 2016 Summer Olympics that will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from August 5-21, according to the General Department of Sports and Physical Training.
Of which, fencing and weightlifting each contribute four places, while badminton, gymnastics, shooting, and wrestling each have two. The four remaining places are in athletics, Judo, swimming and rowing.
Vietnamese sports has so far won only two medals at the Olympics with one silver medal won in Taekwondo by Tran Hieu Ngan at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and another silver medal won by weightlifter Hoang Anh Tuan in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
The country failed to win any medal at the 2012 Olympics in London.
The medal drought may end this year as Vietnam sees big chance to win a medal in Ri, with some athletes displaying their world-class performances in recent years.
One of the country’s leading medal hopefuls is swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, who has proved her capability in international competitions, winning dozens of gold medals.
Vien will compete in the women’s 400m freestyle, 200m individual medley and 400m individual medley events. Her best 200m individual medley result is 2:12.66, achieved at the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China, which is equal to the performance of some athletes who competed in the final of the event in London four years ago.
Veteran shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh, who came close to victory in London, is also expected to help Vietnam claim a medal at the Games, while Van Ngoc Tu is able to compete for a place on the podium in Judo.
Weightlifting is another sport Vietnam can count on for ending its medal drought at the global event with Tran Le Quoc Toan and Thach Kim Tuan proving their competence of lifting themselves to the podium.-VNA
