Vietnamese rejoiced yesterday after their country won their first ever Olympic gold medal, a victory made all the more sweeter by the fact that regional rival China were beaten along the way.
Hoang Xuan Vinh, a 41-year-old a serving army colonel who first learned to shoot with AK47 rifles, made history in Rio de Janeiro overnight when a near-perfect final shot in the men’s 10m air pistol clinched him gold.
Vietnamese state media reported that Vinh would receive US$100,000 from the state on his return — a handsome sum in a country where the average annual income is about US$2,100.
Photo: EPA
Vinh’s victory, in which he scored 202.5 points, shunted Brazil’s Felipe Almeida Wu (202.1 points) and China’s Pang Wei (180.4 points) into second and third respectively, something that was seized on by jubilant Vietnamese fans.
“So proud! But the greatest happiness was that we won over China,” Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen, a Vietnamese music show host based in the US, but popular in her homeland, wrote on Facebook.
“Vietnamese sport has begun a new chapter,” added Facebook user Nguyen Dat. “Defeating the Chinese athlete, hosts Brazil and the current South Korean champion. So convincing!”
Photo: AFP
“You are the pride of the nation and the people,” reader Truong Tran Hoang Du wrote on the Tuoi Tre newspaper’s Web site.
Vietnam has shared an intense rivalry with its giant northern neighbor for centuries — an animosity that has been stoked in recent years by competing claims — also involving Taiwan — in the South China Sea.
TAIWANESE ATHLETES
Photo: AP
Staff writer, with agencies
In the women’s 48kg weightlifting division, Taiwan’s Chen Wei-ling finished seventh after a snatch of 81kg and a clean and jerk lift of 100kg. Sopita Tanasan of Thailand won with a combined effort of 200kg, while Indonesia’s Sri Agustiani (192kg) took silver and Hiromi Miyake of Japan (188kg) won bronze.
In the women’s single sculls heats, Taiwan’s Huang Yi-ting was to race in repechage two yesterday — which faced delays — after a time of 8 minutes, 51.74 seconds in her heat on Saturday.
In archery, Taiwan’s men’s team were eliminated on Saturday in the round of 16 after making seventh in the ranking round. Indonesia’s Riau Ega Agatha, Hendra Purnama and Muhammad Wijaya defeated Kao Hao-wen, Wei Chun-heng and Yu Guan-lin 6-2. South Korea yesterday won the gold-medal match against the US, while Australia took bronze.
Taiwan’s Tsai Ming-yen fell to Bulgaria’s Yanislav Gerchev in the men’s 60kg judo competition on Saturday. Beslan Mudranov of Russia defeated Yeldos Smetov of Kazakhstan in the gold-medal bout.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
AP, BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil
Hope Solo came up big in her 200th international appearance as the US fought off France 1-0 on Saturday in an Olympic group match at the Mineirao Stadium. She did it while facing boos from Brazilian fans still riled up about her social media posts about the Zika virus.
“What’s important to me is that I played the best quality of football that I can play, and that hopefully our team makes it to the final,” Solo said. “If they [the fans] are having fun, great. I like a loud stadium, but it really doesn’t mean anything to me.”
In the other match in Belo Horizonte on Saturday, New Zealand defeated Colombia 1-0. The victory was costly for the Ferns because Abby Erceg was shown a red card late in the match, meaning that she will not be able to play tomorrow when New Zealand face France in Manaus, though the Kiwis indicated they might appeal the referee’s decision.
Elsewhere, Canada defeated Zimbabwe 3-1, Germany drew 2-2 with Australia, China defeated South Africa 2-0 and Brazil beat Sweden 5-1.
GYMNASTICS
AFP, RIO DE JANEIRO
French gymnast Samir Aot Saod suffered a horrific double leg fracture at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Saturday.
The 26-year-old snapped the lower part of his left leg, landing badly while competing in the vault in the men’s qualifying at the Rio Olympic Arena.
The French delegation later confirmed he had suffered a double tibia and fibula fracture.
Ait Said fell to the mat in agony clutching the back of his knee and the lower part of his leg, which visibly flopped to one side to gasps of horror from the crowd.
He was treated by medical staff for several minutes before being stretchered off to applause from the crowd.
“We’re still overcome by emotion, it’s unexpected, dramatic,” French national team director Corinne Callon told reporters.
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