Paraplympics

RIO— Vietnamese Paralympics swimmer Võ Thanh Tùng won a silver medal at the Rio Paralympics in Brazil this morning (Hà Nội time).

The swimmer from the southern province of Cần Thơ finished second in the final of the men’s 50m freestyle S5 with a time of 33.94sec. The gold medal went to Brazil’s Daniel Dias with a time of 32.78sec and Roy Perkins of the United States took the bronze medal with a time of 34.42sec.

This result helped Tùng break his own Asian record of 34.43sec set at the recent Funchal IPC Swimming European Open Championships.

Tùng contracted polio at the age of four, which left him with weakened legs that were barely able support his body weight. He will compete in two other categories -- 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke.

Earlier, five-time 2014 Asian Para Games winner Tùng ranked seventh in the men’s 50m butterfly category.

Meanwhile, Cao Ngọc Hùng won a bronze medal in the men’s javelin event with a 43.27m throw. Iran’s Mohammad Khalvandi won the gold with 46.12m and Khalvandi’s teammate Abdollah Heidari Til received the silver medal with a 43.77m throw.

Hùng qualified for Rio thanks to a throw of 41m at an open tournament in China. He also pocketed a gold medal with a 41.64m throw at the March Athletics Asia-Oceania Championships in Dubai.

Việt Nam have won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the world’s largest sports tournament for the disabled.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyễn Ngọc Thiện sent a letter congratulating Tùng and Hùng’s achievements on hearing the news. Thiện also awarded a cash prize of VNĐ40million to Tùng, VNĐ15million to Tùng’s coach, VNĐ20million to Hùng and VNĐ10million to Hùng’s coach.

“On behalf of the leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, I warmly praise Tùng and Hùng for their achievements. It is the first time ever that disabled Vietnamese athletes have won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the Paralympics. This victory affirms Viet Nam’s disabled athletes’ excellent will and energy to overcome the difficulties in their daily life and train hard to bring the country glory,” Thiện said. — VNS