VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam aims to get 18 official tickets to the 2016 Olympics but so far Vietnamese top athletes have just got three cards. The target seems to be too far to reach as the number of qualifying tournaments declines.

Previously, Vietnam often received invitations to the Olympics. But as more Vietnamese athletes won official cards, Vietnam was rejected from the list of countries granted with exceptional cards. Therefore, Vietnamese athletes have to compete for the Olympic cards.

So far, Vietnam has won three cards in swimming and shooting.

Specifically, at the world shooting championships that took place in Spain last year, Hoang Xuan Vinh and Tran Quoc Cuong performed very well in the men’s 50m and 10m air pistol categories and won two tickets to the Olympics 2016.

At the 28th Southeast Asian Games, swimmer Anh Vien not only won 8 gold medals and broke 8 SEA Games records but also won the Olympic tickets for the women’s 400m mixed, 200m mixed and 400m freestyle categories.

After the success at the 28th SEA Games, Vietnam was very optimistic and aimed to get 16-18 tickets to the Olympics 2016.

From the beginning of 2015, more than 50 athletes have been invested in. They are the top athletes who are expected to get cards to the Olympics and even to win medals at this event.

Many Vietnamese athletes have only passed the Olympic B standard so it will be difficult for them to win a card, for example, swimmers Quang Nhat, Duy Khoi and Quy Phuoc. Moreover, their performance at the recent tournaments was not good. They will have to wait for the World Swimming Federation’s rankings to be sure whether they will get a card.

Similarly, runners Nguyen Thi Huyen performed impressively at the 28th SEA Games, with one gold medals for women’s 400m and a gold medal in women’s 400m relay, meeting the Olympic B standards. However, after the Sea Games, Huyen’s position dropped in the International Athletics Federation’s rankings. She currently ranks 77th of the athletes who meet Olympic standards; but only 48 athletes in the list will be selected for the Olympics 2016.

Vietnamese gymnasts and weightlifters did not perform well at the recent world championships in London so they have not won an official ticket.

For other sports such as fencing, judo and badminton, Vietnamese players are trying to accumulate points to be able to get a card.

Vietnamese athletes are racing against time to get the targeted number of cards for the Olympics.

Son Tung