Sprinter Nguyen Thi Huyen books 21st Olympic berth for Vietnam

Sprinter Nguyen Thi Huyen has become the second Vietnamese athletics athlete to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games this summer, after Nguyen Thanh Ngung in racewalking.

Nguyen Thi Huyen has won an Olympic place after a year of waiting.

The information was confirmed by the Organising Committee of the 2016 Olympics at a recent meeting with heads of national delegations in Thailand.

Huyen performed outstandingly at the 28th Southeast Asian Games in Singapore last year, meeting two Olympic B standards in the women’s 400m hurdles (56.15 seconds) and 400m dash (52 seconds) categories.

As regulated by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), only the athletes who satisfy the A standard would be guaranteed a place at the world’s largest sporting event. So, Huyen had to wait until yesterday to find out that she had made it through to the Games.

Earlier on March 20, racewalker Nguyen Thanh Ngung brought home Vietnam’s first 2016 Olympic slots in athletics as he finished the men’s 20km race of the Asian Championships in Japan with a time of 1:23.29, surpassing the Olympic standard of one hour and 24 minutes.

A total of 21 Vietnamese athletes are eligible for Rio so far, including two in badminton, one in rowing, one in swimming, two in shooting, four in fencing, two in athletics, two in wrestling, two in gymnastics, four in weightlifting and one in judo.

(Source: NDO)