Vietnam targets 16-23 positions at 2016 Rio Olympics

The sports sector will determine its budget to focus investment on key athletes in key sports, targeting to secure from 16 to 23 positions at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil, said Tran Duc Phan, deputy director of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training at a meeting in Hanoi on July 2.

Sprinter Quach Thi Lan is one of Vietnam’s key athletes expected to compete in the 2016 Olympics. (Credit: tinthethao.com.vn)

Key athletes will receive maximum assistance for expenses in training overseas and hiring foreign experts, they will also be facilitated to take part in international tournaments to meet 2016 Olympic standards, Phan said.

The athletics team accounted for the largest number of key athletes targeted for Olympic mission in a list put for discussion on Thursday, with six outstanding faces: Quach Thi Lan, Nguyen Thi Huyen, Quach Cong Lich, Bui Thi Thu Thao, Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc and Le Trong Hinh.

Other names included Nguyen Tien Minh and Vu Thi Trang (badminton); Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, Hoang Quy Phuoc, Tran Duy Khoi and Lam Quang Nhat (swimming); Hoang Xuan Vinh and Ha Minh Thanh (shooting); Thach Kim Tuan and Tran Le Quoc Toan (weightlifting); and Phan Thi Ha Thanh and Dinh Phuong Thanh (gymnastics), among others.

Vietnam has so far secured four official tickets to the Rio Olympics next year, which went to shooters Hoang Xuan Vinh and Tran Quoc Cuong in the men’s 50m pistol and 10m air pistol events, sprinter Nguyen Thi Huyen in the women’s 400m and 400m hurdles, and swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien in the women’s 400m freestyle.

Qualification tournaments for the 2016 Olympics willconstantly take place across continents from now until June 2016. According to Phan, seeking Rio Olympic berths is the most important task of Vietnam’s sports sector in 2015 after the recent 28th Southeast Asian Games in Singapore. The sector will do its utmost to increase the number and quality of Vietnamese athletes to compete in Brazil next year, said Phan.

Specifically in the coming time, sprinters Quach Thi Lan and Quach Cong Lich will leave the country for training in the US as recommended by the Thanh Hoa provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Swimmer Anh Vien has already resumed her training in the US while her teammate Quy Phuoc has returned to Japan. Sprinter Nguyen Thi Huyen is scheduled to train in Russia in line with expectations of her trainer and Nam Dinh provincial officials. Leaders of the sports sector pledged to make their utmost efforts to help Vietnamese athletes prepare for Olympic qualifying events.

(Source: nhandan.org.vn)