Vietnam ready to compete in Youth Olympics in Argentina

Asian Games silver medallist Nguyen Huy Hoang will compete in the Summer Youth Olympic Games from October 6-18 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo: tinquangbinh.com)

Vietnam will have 13 athletes competing at the games, playing in seven sports including badminton, gymnastics, taekwondo, dance sport, weightlifting, swimming and athletics. The athletes will leave for Argentina on October 2.

According to Tran Duc Phan, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Sports Administration, Vietnam aims to earn at least one gold at the upcoming event, focusing on swimming, weightlifting and taekwondo.

The golden hopes are taekwondo martial artist Ho Thi Kim Ngan, who won a gold medal at the World Youth Taekwondo Championship in the women’s U-49kg and swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang, who won a silver medal at the recent Asian Games in Indonesia in the men’s 1,500m.

Vietnam have taken part in two YOG events in 2010 and 2014. At the YOG in 2010, the team bagged one gold thanks to weightlifter Thach Kim Tuan in the men’s 56kg, one silver in taekwondo and two bronzes in taekwondo and badminton.

At the YOG in 2014, swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien won a gold medal and weightlifter Nguyen Tran Anh Tuan brought home one more silver.

The YOG are an elite multi-sport international event for the world’s best young athletes between the ages of 15 to 18. Buenos Aires 2018 will mark the first time that an Olympic event has had an equal number of women and men athletes. There will be 1,999 women and 1,999 men competing in 32 sports.

The Games will truly be a celebration of sport throughout the city. Across four different parks there will be: 286 competition sessions, 468 sport initiation sessions, cultural and educational activities for the general public and athletes, 241 medal events, 1,250 medals distributed and more than 300 hours of live competition broadcast./.

VNA