Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese female athlete Nguyen Thi That won a silver medal at the 43rd Asian Road Cycling Championship in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on June 11.
That had to defend her title in the women's elite individual road race event which featured 85 competitors from 21 teams. Despite her strong effort and support from teammates, she could only come second in a time of 2 hours 56.51 minutes in a 112.5km stage, reported the Sports Authority of Vietnam under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Song Min-ji of the Republic of Korea took the top podium and Chinese Tang Xin placed third.
That's silver was the only medal of Vietnam at this year's edition.
The Asian championship from June 5 to 12 attracts a record of 619 athletes. It is the last event for cyclists before competing at the Paris Olympics in July.
That is the first Vietnamese cyclist in history to win a berth in an Olympics.
Nguyen Ngoc Vu, General Secretary of the Vietnam Cycling and Motor Sports Federation, said the Almaty route was quite difficult with many steep passes. Riders had to overcome a 3.5km hilly road each in eight laps. This was not a route that That could perform her best.
Although she could not defend her championship title, That was praised by the federation leader for her strong effort through the race./.
