Athletics 

Bùi Thị Ngân (right) and teammate Nguyễn Thị Thu Hà seen celebrating when they won top two places at the 32nd SEA Games' 800m event. Ngân takes gold in the women's 1,500m at the 2024 Taiwan Athletics Open on June 1. VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam secured two golds in the first day of competitions at the 2024 Taiwan Athletics Open on June 1 in Chinese Taipei.

Bùi Thị Ngân finished first in the women's 1,500m event while Nguyễn Trung Cường topped the men's 3,000m steeplechase hours later at the Taipei Stadium.

Ngân, who won silver at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia last May, and Gayanthika Thushari Artigala Aberathna of Sri Lanka quickly separated from the rest of the pack from from the start. They held the one-two position for most of the race, with the Vietnamese athlete maintaining a 2-metre distance from her rival.

When it was about 100m to the finish line Ngân sprinted up and past Aberathna to finish first in a time of 4min 21.68sec.

Aberathna was second on 4:24.66. She was followed by North Korean Ri Song Hui who clocked 4:32.95.

Another Vietnamese Nguyễn Thị Thu Hà also raced in the event. The SEA Games' 800m defending champion however could only come third on 4:34.80.

Hours later, SEA Games winner Cường met no difficulty to secure his gold after running in 9:06.93.

He left behind Sukarya Pandu of Indonesia, who timed 9:10.14, and Lin Zhewei of the hosts, who clocked 9:14.90.

In other activities, SEA Games champion Huỳnh Thị Mỹ Tiên placed seventh in the women's 100m hurdles and SEA Games silver medalist Vũ Đức Anh was eighth in the men's high jump.

The Taiwan Open will continue on June 2 with different categories. Việt Nam have 18 representatives at the tournament. Among them, the women's 4x400m team will seek the Olympic slot here. VNS