Powerlifter Hong finishes fourth in women's 40kg category

HA NOI – Of the three Vietnamese athletes competing at the Paralympics in London yesterday, power-lifter Nguyen Thi Hong finished with the best result – fourth in the women's under 40kg event.

Although lifting a weight of 88kg, the same as bronze medallist Zoe Newson from Great Britain, Hong had a higher body weight.

According to the rules, athletes with lower body weights take precedence if two competitors lift the same weight.

The gold medal went to Nazmiye Muslu from Turkey, who weighed 106kg. Zhe Cui from China came second with a lift of 97kg.

In the men's under 48kg event, power-lifter Nguyen Van Phuc lifted 145kg to come seventh.

Nigeria's Yakubu Adesokan broke the world record and won a gold medal with a lift of 180kg. Russia's Vladimir Balynetc and Egypt's Taha Abdelmagid were in second and third placers with lifts of 170kg and 165kg respectively.

Swimmer Vo Thanh Tung, who was expected to win a medal at the Olympics, finished seventh in a field of eight athletes after clocking a time of 36.05secs in the men's 50m freestyle-S5 event.

In the qualification round, Tung came third in heat one with a time of 35.43secs.

Brazil's Daniel Dias set a new world record when finishing first with a time of 32.05secs.

Spain's Sebastian Rodriguez and Roy Perkins from the United States came in second and third with times of 33.44secs and 33.69secs, respectively.

Tung will compete in men's 50m backstroke on September 6, the 50m butterfly on September 7 and 100m freestyle on September 8.

Today, Cao Ngoc Hung will compete in men's discus throw-F58 event. – VNS