Tran Dinh Thang "carries" Hai Duong weightlifting

From a quick meeting at the parking lot...

Exactly 10 years ago, at the High School Athletics Tournament of Hai Duong City, there was a quick encounter that made Tran Dinh Thang embark on a new adventure and opened up a different direction in his professional sports life.

At that time, athlete Nguyen Thi Thiet - a monument of Vietnamese weightlifting as well as Hai Duong discovered Tran Dinh Thang, when this 9th grade boy competed in the ball throwing event. The impression of a shy boy but competing very passionately made coach Nguyen Thi Thiet find Tran Dinh Thang in... the garage.

- Do you want to go into professional sports? Do you want to try weightlifting?

- Yes! - Tran Dinh Thang answered without hesitation.

The very next day, the boy cycled from his house in Nhi Chau ward to the Hai Duong Sports Training, Coaching and Competition Center to ask for training. He was very punctual and serious. Although there was no regimen at that time, Tran Dinh Thang always maintained the training volume according to the training plan set by the coaching staff.

Born in 1999 in a farming family in Nhi Chau ward, Thang has an older brother, and no one in the family is into sports. However, the youngest son's long training and competitions away from home have become familiar.

It can be said that Tran Dinh Thang's career was fortunately developed when fate brought this weightlifter to coach Nguyen Thi Thiet - the most talented weightlifter of Hai Duong up to now. However, as coach Nguyen Thi Thiet said, "meeting the teacher" is only a part, the athlete's inner strength is the most important. Hai Duong does not lack talented weightlifters, but they overcome material difficulties, are willing to devote their talents, take on responsibility and stay to bring glory to the Fatherland like Thang, there are not many.

"The competitive life of an athlete, especially a weightlifter, is not long, so Tran Dinh Thang always tries hard every day and tries hard in each tournament to continue to assert himself," said coach Nguyen Thi Thiet.

Hai Duong's weightlifting team is currently respected nationwide with names like Tran Thi Thuy Duong, Nguyen Trung Hieu, Nguyen Tuan Kiet, Nguyen Thien Nhan, Nguyen Dinh Quang Khai... and Tran Dinh Thang is an irreplaceable name in tournaments in recent years.

...to an irreplaceable athlete

Tran Dinh Thang and his team have just returned from the National Weightlifting Championship. This is the last tournament in 2023 for the Hai Duong weightlifting team as well as for Tran Dinh Thang personally. At this tournament, weightlifter Tran Dinh Thang in the men's 102 kg category won a gold medal in the 196 kg clean and jerk, with a total of 350 kg he won another gold medal, and broke 2 records of the tournament. Tran Dinh Thang's two gold medals helped the Hai Duong weightlifting team rank 9th out of 27 participating delegations.

In November 2023, at the National Club Weightlifting Championship, Tran Dinh Thang won 3 gold medals in the 102 kg category. At the 9th National Sports Festival, Tran Dinh Thang won 3 gold medals in the 102 kg category, breaking 3 festival records.

The most impressive thing about Tran Dinh Thang in 2023 was that he won the gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games in his first time participating in the tournament. This gold medal is even more meaningful because after the golden generation of Nguyen Thi Thiet, Hai Duong weightlifting has an athlete in the national team competing at the SEA Games. The gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games is not only a joy for Tran Dinh Thang, but according to coach Nguyen Thi Thiet, this is Tran Dinh Thang's "sweet revenge" against the Thai athlete. At the 32nd SEA Games in Vietnam, Tran Dinh Thang was not called up to the national team. In the final match, it was his Thai opponent Rungsuriya Panya who took the gold medal right in Vietnam against the athlete from Ho Chi Minh City.

Remember at the 33rd SEA Games, when he was behind his Thai opponent Rungsuriya Panya after the snatch, Tran Dinh Thang entered the pressure-filled clean and jerk. The first time he lifted 196 kg, he was penalized but was later recognized thanks to the coaching staff's appeal. Panya successfully lifted 195 kg, 200 kg and then 203 kg. The Thai weightlifter celebrated as if he had the victory in hand. At this time, the gap between Panya and Thang was 12 kg. He was forced to raise the weight to 209 kg and failed on the second attempt. The third time, he was penalized by two referees. But after the coaching staff appealed, the referee determined that the Vietnamese weightlifter had lifted legally. Thanks to that, Tran Dinh Thang won the over 89 kg category with a total lift of 359 kg, exactly 1 kg more than Panya.

Weightlifter Tran Dinh Thang has been a champion for nearly 10 years now and he is gradually enriching his medal collection in both domestic and international arenas. This year, turning 25, the age when a weightlifter slows down, Tran Dinh Thang is gradually approaching coaching work, while he is studying at a sports university.

"I will always be determined to achieve higher results in each tournament. My wish for the new year? To be on the payroll, to be able to compete and contribute with peace of mind," said Tran Dinh Thang.