Trinh Van Vinh fails, Vietnamese sports lose hope of Paris Olympic medal

Evening of August 7 (Vietnam time), Trinh Van Vinh and 11 other athletes in the men's weightlifting category under 61kg at the 2024 Paris Olympics entered the competition. Van Vinh was under a lot of pressure when shouldering the responsibility of winning an honorary medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation.

The challenge is huge for the 1995-born athlete as he faces many strong opponents, notably Li Fabin - world and Olympic champion, and holder of the world record (total lift of 318 kg) and Olympic record (total lift of 313 kg).

Registering for 129kg in the snatch competition, Trinh Van Vinh had a slight advantage as he waited for athletes who registered lower to compete first. In turn, the Vietnamese athlete decided to lower his registration to 128kg. However, this was still a very challenging weight for the athlete from Bac Ninh because right before that, Theerapong Silachai (Thailand) performed "smoothly" the weight of 127kg.

In all 3 snatches, Van Vinh tried very hard but failed. In the third snatch, the Vietnamese athlete even fell on the floor and was almost crushed by the weight. He was very disappointed to have to stop the game early, meaning that the dream of winning a medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation was shattered.

Van Vinh's failure in the first 3 times of the snatch (128kg) was a surprise because he had successfully performed many times with even higher weights. However, in his first time participating in the Olympics and under a lot of pressure to win a medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation, Van Vinh could not compete to his full potential.

In addition to psychological problems, Van Vinh is also not in the best physical condition as his knee injury has only recovered about 90%. During the first days of training in France, the 29-year-old athlete had to be injected with painkillers. During his first time participating in the Olympics, Van Vinh had an unforgettable memory. This could also be Van Vinh's last Olympics at the age of 29.

Thus, the last medal hope of the Vietnamese sports delegation at the 2024 Paris Olympics quickly failed, showing that the Olympic playground is really beyond the reach of Vietnamese sports.