Athlete Le Van Cong won a gold medal at the 2023 World Championships

On August 23, athlete Le Van Cong won the gold medal at the 2023 World Para Weightlifting Championship held in Saudi Arabia.

Weightlifter Le Van Cong participated in this year's tournament as the reigning runner-up. Of the 9 weightlifters competing in the Men's 49kg category, Le Van Cong's biggest rival was Jordanian weightlifter Omar Qarada, the reigning world and Paralympic champion.

In this competition, Le Van Cong started his first lift with 172 kg and succeeded. In his second attempt, Le Van Cong raised the weight to 176 kg but was unsuccessful.

Determined to get the best result, Le Van Cong kept the same weight and lifted the barbell for the third time and succeeded, thereby placing first overall and winning the gold medal.

Meanwhile, Qarada achieved his best weight of 175 kg, so he only ranked second and won a silver medal. Kayapinar (Türkiye) won a bronze medal with a result of 173 kg.

Thus, this is the second time in his career that athlete Le Van Cong has won a world gold medal. More specifically, he has reclaimed the "debt" of losing the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic gold medal to Omar Qarada due to a 100g difference in body weight.

Previously, he was crowned champion at the 2017 World Para Weightlifting Championship. In addition, this athlete from Ha Tinh also won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in Brazil.

He is also the world record holder in the 49kg weight class with a score of 183.5 kg. Le Van Cong's next big goal is to win the Gold medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in France.

The 2023 World Para Weightlifting Championships brings together 473 disabled athletes from 80 countries and territories around the world, competing in weight categories for men and women, according to the standards of the International Paralympic Association and the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

At this year's tournament, the Vietnamese disabled weightlifting team only registered 4 athletes: Le Van Cong (49 kg men), Nguyen Binh An (54 kg men), Dang Thi Linh Phuong (50 kg women), and Chau Hoang Tuyet Loan (55 kg women).

Before athlete Le Van Cong won the gold medal, athlete Dang Thi Linh Phuong also won a bronze medal in the women's 50 kg category when she successfully lifted a weight of 103 kg.

This achievement is only behind Olivia Broome (UK) with 112 kg and Wei Yi (China) with 105 kg. Olivia Broome won the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and is the world record holder in the 50 kg category, while Wei Yi is the reigning Asian champion.

The 2023 World Para Powerlifting Championships will run until August 30.