Vietnam enjoyed a good start at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Argentina as weightlifter Ngo Son Dinh won a gold medal for the country at the men’s 56kg event on October 7, the first day of competition at the Games.

Weightlifter Ngo Son Dinh won a gold medal in the men’s 56kg event at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Argentina on October 7. (Photo: Thethaoplus)

Dinh lifted 114kg in snatch and 148kg in clean and jerk to triumph with a total lift of 262kg.

The Tien Giang-born lifter won one gold and two bronze medals in the men’s 56kg at the Asian Youth Weightlifting Championship last year.

He also won three gold medals at the Asian Youth Weightlifting Championship and two bronzes at the World Youth Weightlifting Championship this year.

The same day, weightlifter Nguyen Thu Trang also clinched a silver medal at the women’s 44kg event, lifting a total of 147kg, following Echandia Zarate from Venezuela who came in first with 162kg.

Meanwhile, in swimming, young athletes Nguyen Huy Hoang, Pham Thanh Bao and Vu Thi Van Anh failed to secure a medal for Vietnam. 

Hoang was very close to finish third place at the men’s 400m freestyle finals with a time of 2:23:40 after he got off to a slow start and lagged behind in the first 150m. He later managed to take lead when finishing 300m, but only coming fourth overall.

Bao came ninth in the women’s 100m breaststroke semifinals while Anh did not get through the qualifications for the women’s 200m individual medley.

The Summer Youth Olympic Games is an elite multi-sport international event held every four years for the world’s best athletes between the ages of 14 to 18. This year’s event is underway in Buenos Aires, Argentina from October 6 – 18, attracting about 4,000 athletes from 206 countries and territories competing in 32 sports.

Vietnam has sent 13 athletes to Argentina to compete in athletics, swimming, weightlifting, badminton, taekwondo, gymnastics and dance sport.

At the 2010 Games, the team bagged one gold through weightlifter Thach Kim Tuan in the men’s 56kg, along with one silver and one bronze in taekwondo and a bronze in badminton.

At the 2014 Games, swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien won gold and weightlifter Nguyen Tran Anh Tuan brought home a silver. –VNA