Swimmer, boxer suffer defeats at Paris Olympics

Olympics

Nguyễn Huy Hoàng of Việt Nam swims in the men’s 800m freestyle at the Paris Olympics. — VNA/VNS Photo

PARIS — Vietnamese athletes have poor performance day on July 29 as both swimmer and boxer ousted from the Paris Olympics.

Nguyễn Huy Hoàng makes a dispointed result in the men’s 800m freestyle event at the Paris La Defense Arena

Hoàng not only loses to his rivals but also himself after recording a time of 8:08.39, placing No 5 among seven swimmers of the first heat.

He ranks No 28 among 31 competitors and does not qualify for the finals which is for top eight.

Further, his result was worse than he swam of 7:54.16 for a No 20 place in the Tokyo Games three years ago.

At the world championship in February in Qatar, he also finished 8:05.17.

Hoàng is considered Việt Nam’s potential swimmer after he won gold at the Youth Olympics, one silver and one bronze at the Asian Games, all in 2018.

He received strong support to reach world level. Before the Paris Games, the multi-time SEA Games champion was sent to practise in Hungary for winning Việt Nam a medal. Although coaches’ reports confirmed that he did good training, his result in Paris does not.

The 24-year-old will compete in his second event of 1,500m freestyle on August 3.

In boxing, Hà Thị Linh is eliminated from the Games after losing 0-5 to Asian Games champion Yang Wenlu of China in the last-8 round of the women’s 60kg class.

Despite her effort, Linh cannot resist the No 1 seed Yang’s attacks. It is her second defeat to the same rival as she lost to Yang, world No 4, at the 2024 Asian Games’ last-8 round last September.

After Linh’s defeat, Việt Nam have no boxer left at the Paris.

Speaking with reporters after two days of competitions, Chef-de-Mission Đặng Hà Việt praised Vietnamese medal hope Trịnh Thu Vinh despite her failure in the 10m air pistol event on July 28.

She finished fourth in the first time taking part in the Olympics. He believed that Vinh would do better in her next event.

“It was Vinh’s remarkable day. It was a pity that she could not advance to the top three,” said Việt.

“Through her performance in two days, we can see her rapid progress. She is good at not only technique but also mentality.

“Our athletes in general and Vinh in particular need more effort to have better results. She will have her 25m pistol event, which is her strong point. Hope that she will find a place in the finals and take an expected medal.”

He added that Việt Nam still had other potential athletes such as weightlifter Trịnh Văn Vinh, archers Đỗ Thị Nguyệt Ánh and Lê Quốc Phong, and cyclist Nguyễn Thị Thật so opportunities were still available. — VNS