Paralympics

Vietnamese officials and athletes take part in a Paris Paralympics send-off ceremony on August 20 in HCM City. Photo of SAV

HCM CITY — Vietnamese athletes are ready for the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, from where they expect to bring back two medals.

A send-off ceremony for the delegation was organised on August 20 at the HCM City's National Sports Training Centre.

The 14th Summer Paralympics, which will take place between August 28 and September 8, will bring together 4,400 athletes from around the world competing across 22 sports.

Việt Nam is sending a contingent of 14 members, with seven strong contenders under Chef-de-mission Nguyễn Hồng Minh deputy director of the Sports Authority of Việt Nam.

Four para athletes -- Lê Văn Công, Nguyễn Bình An, Đặng Thị Linh Phượng and Châu Hoàng Tuyết Loan -- will compete in powerlifting. Two -- Đỗ Thanh Hải and Lê Tiến Đạt -- will take part in the swimming events and Phạm Nguyễn Khánh Minh will run in the T12 400m event.

Knowing that this will be a difficult and challenging tournament, Vietnamese athletes have been training hard to be ready for their competitions in France.

"Since the beginning of this year I have focused on training intensively for the Paralympics," said powerlifter An.

"My opponents in the 54kg class are very strong so it promises to be a fierce competition for me. I am in the process of recovering from my left elbow injury, but I am eager to contribute, ready to compete for medals."

His teammate Công is also setting himself a high target in France, wanting not just to be in the top three but also to take his title back in the men's 49kg class.

Công is Việt Nam's first and only Paralympic champion after his win in the 2016 Games in Brazil. At the previous Games in Tokyo, Công took silver.

The world and Paralympic record holder promised to give it all his best and bring home victory.

Speaking at the event, Chef-de-mission Minh said that the 2024 Paris Paralympics would be a great opportunity for Vietnamese players to show their extraordinary will and determination to overcome challenges and exceed all limits, despite their disabilities.

At the same time they affirmed their desire to win, integrate into the world, and contribute to national sports.

"We have expectations for all the athletes participating in the upcoming Paralympics. We hope they will try to surpass themselves, achieve better results than in the past, especially to win one to two medals from this huge competition arena," said Minh.

"To date, I believe that Lê Văn Công and Nguyễn Bình An can make it their mission as their performance is good producing better results during practice. Veteran lifter Châu Hoàng Tuyết Loan is also expected to pull off a surprise in Paris."

Lê Văn Công and Nguyễn Bình An (first row, left) are two medal hopes of Việt Nam at the Paris Paralympics. — VNS Photo Thanh Tùng

Taking part in the send-off, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoàng Đạo Cương said: "It is a very competitive arena, where the best para-athletes in the world gather together. Vietnamese players attending these games have a goal of achieving the best results, but they also take the duty of popularising the beautiful image of the country and people of Việt Nam to international friends".

He asked all members to unite, overcome difficulties, follow discipline, and bring all their spirit and energy to complete the set tasks. At the same time, they must absolutely comply with the regulations and competition rules, respect the laws, customs and cultural traditions of the host country and participating countries.

The HCM City's People's Committee has offered an additional reward of VNĐ300 million (US$12,000) to any player who takes a Paris gold, in addition to a VNĐ100 million bonus from the delegation leader.

The Việt Nam team will leave for France on August 23. They then check in the athletes' village and have impairment classification before entering the official competitions. VNS