Women’s wheelchair racer Nguyen Thi Thanh Thao (left) and weightlifter Dang Thi Anh Tuyet will make their way to the Beijing Paralympics.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese athletes with disabilities will get a chance to let their talents shine at the Beijing Paralympics this summer.

In a report sent to the Viet Nam Culture, Sports and Tourism Ministry, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said eight Vietnamese athletes had earned the right to compete at the September event.

Among them, power lifters Dinh Thi Nga and Le Van Cong took automatic passes to the Games while six others received byes thanks to their successes at recent international tournaments, especially the 4th ASEAN Para Games held in Thailand last December.

Nga set three consecutive new records with a final lift of 93kg in the women’s 52kg pool at the Para Games to take the gold medal.

Meanwhile, Cong completed a perfect tournament with one gold and one new record in the men’s 48kg pool with a lift of 153kg.

Their teammates in power lifting, Dang Anh Tuyet and Chau Hoang Tuyet Loan, will also compete in Beijing in the women’s 40kg and 48kg classes. Both pocketed gold medals at the Thailand Para Games.

Another featured athlete is Hanoian sprinter Dao Van Cuong, who set a new Asian record in the men’s 400m event. Cuong took his gold after a time of 55.15 seconds for the race, which was 0.48 seconds faster than the previous record, which he himself had set at the third ASEAN Para Games in the Philippines in 2005.

In Beijing, he will race in the 100m, 200m and 400m events.

Three gold-medal holder Nguyen Thi Hai will compete in the women’s shotput, javelin and discus.

Para Games champion Nguyen Thi Thanh Thao will test her skill in the women’s wheelchair races in the 100m, 200m and 400m events.

The last athlete is Nguyen Quang Vuong, the only swimmer, who will hunt for a strong result in the men’s 100m breaststroke event.

According to Le Hong Diep Chi of the Viet Nam Sports and Physical Training Administration, the number of athletes are the same as what sport experts expected after the Vietnamese delegation returned home from the Paralympic qualifying rounds as well as the Thai tournament.

However, swimmer Vo Huynh Anh Khoa, who pocketed two gold medals from the Far East and South Pacific Games, was not on the list, a huge surprise for everyone.

The 18-year-old athlete had the confidence of sports leaders after his outstanding performances at all the tournaments in which he took part. At the Para Games, Khoa was one of the biggest winners with four gold medals and four Games records in the men’s 400m freestyle and butterfly and 100m freestyle and butterfly events.

Chi said the Viet Nam Sports Association for the Disabled Athletes (VSAD) will ask the IPC to review this case.

The athletes will be summoned in the coming months for training. They will also enjoy a training course in China and will stay there to take part in the Paralympics.

"Vietnamese athletes are likely to bag either silver or bronze medals, with Cong, Cuong and Vuong the leading medal hopefuls," said Vu The Phiet, VSAD’s vice chairman and general secretary.

The Paralympics will officially open on September 6 and close 11 days later. About 4,000 athletes from 150 nations around the world will come to Beijing. Here, they will compete for 471 sets of medals in 20 events. Almost ever event will be staged in the capital city. Only rowing and canoeing will be held in Guangzhou and horse-racing in Hong Kong.

It is the first time in the history of the games that the host, in this case China, decided to bear all expenses for the participants.

(Source: VNS)