Tham Nguyen

Tham "Thammy" Nguyen Gough (; ; , ; born 15 September 1996) is an Irish retired weightlifter and entrepreneur, known for being the first Irish weightlifter to win a senior medal at the European Weightlifting Championships.

Emigrating from  Vietnam at an early age, her family experienced hardships in  Ireland to the extent of not being able to afford food for the week. She moved to different towns before settling in Clarehall, where she then found out about  Olympic weightlifting in a gym.

In her early weightlifting years, she competed at the  European Junior & U23 Weightlifting Championships in 2015 as the first woman to represent Ireland at the competition. The same year, she competed at the World Weightlifting Championships, once again becoming the first Irish woman to represent the country in the championships. Eight years later, she competed at the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships, lifting 98 kilograms in the clean and jerk, earning the first bronze and first medal ever for the nation. The following year, in the same competition, she earned the first total medal for the nation.

She supported her weightlifting career financially through her business interests, which include salons, a gym, and a clothing brand. On 1 April 2024, she retired from competitive weightlifting and continued to follow through on her businesses. 

Early life

Nguyễn Thẩm was born on 15 September 1996 in Vietnam to Lai and Thuy Nguyen. She, her parents, and her brother, Nhat, immigrated to Ireland in 2003 when she was six years old. She and her father arrived first, and her brother and mother followed the next year. They lived in Belturbet, then Santry, before settling in Clarehall. She said that life was hard and that sometimes her family could not afford food.

Nguyen's father's interest in sports influenced Nguyen and her brother to pursue athletic careers. She was active growing up, and pursued Irish dancing. Her parents opened a Chinese takeaway in 2012 to support the family, and Nguyen and her brother manage it from time to time. She started going to the gym at sixteen years of age, and after speaking to a young woman who participated in CrossFit, she joined a CrossFit gym. She was persuaded to try weightlifting by a gym coach who saw her performance.

Career

2015–2016

After her first competition, she qualified for the 2015 European Junior & U23 Weightlifting Championships competing in the women's 53 kg category being the first woman to represent Ireland at the competition. She finished eighth overall. The same year, she competed at the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships being the first Irish female weightlifter to compete at the World Weightlifting Championships. She placed 35th in the women's 48 kg category.

The following year, Nguyen competed at the 2016 European Weightlifting Championships placing 21st in the women's 53 kg category. She then competed at the 2016 Junior World Weightlifting Championships, where she placed 15th in the same category.

Return to competition

After seeing her brother, Nhat, at the 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Tokyo, Japan, she said she "remembered the goal she set for herself many years ago", saying she felt disheartened when she did not achieve the goal. After remembering the goal she set, she went back to training.

2022–2023

Through her brother's contacts, she got into contact with 2004 Olympian Mohamed Faizal Baharom who competed for Malaysia in January 2022 to help with her training. She brought him to Dublin and praised him for her steady improvement in the sport from his coaching. She also trains with coach Beata Jung, the national coach of the Irish team.

Her first competition after stopping for six years was the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships, she placed 20th. She snatched 73 kg, and clean and jerked 93 kg for a 166 kg total.

The following year, she competed at the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships, snatching a competition best of 75 kg and clean and jerking another competition best of 98 kg becoming the first Irish weightlifter to win a senior European Weightlifting Championships medal, a bronze, and becoming the first Irish female weightlifter to lift twice her own weight. She finished ninth overall in the women's 49 kg category. She then competed at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships, competing in the same category, snatching 76 kg, a new national record, and clean and jerking 96 kg, with a 172 kg total placing 19th.

2024

At the 2024 European Weightlifting Championships held in Sofia, Bulgaria, she lifted 74 kilograms in the snatch, placing sixth. She then clean and jerked 95 kilograms, earning a total of 169 kilograms, earning bronze for both lifts and earning the first total medal for the nation. After her bronze medal win at the championships, she announced on Instagram that she would be retiring after the nearing IWF World Cup held in Thailand in April, stating that she is "emotionally, mentally, physically, and financially exhausted" due to balancing her sporting career and her businesses, saying it would be her last Europeans for the national team to focus more on her other future endeavors.

Two months later, she competed at the 2024 IWF World Cup held in Phuket, Thailand. She lifted 70 kilograms in the snatch and clean and jerked 96 kilograms for a total of 166 kilograms. After the competition, she retired from professional weightlifting to focus on her children. She stated that she's "happy about retiring," saying that she hopes that other young lifters in Ireland will be encouraged about the sport.

Major results

Personal life

Nguyen has a brother named Nhat Nguyen who is an international badminton player who competed at the Summer Olympics representing Ireland.

Nguyen is married to Mark Gough, a business owner, with whom she has two children named Lilly and Marc. After her marriage, she adopted the name Tham Nguyen Gough, being nicknamed Thammy. She owns and operates two salons and a clothing brand to support her weightlifting career. She and her husband had opened up a CrossFit gym in Baldoyle.

References

External links

*{{IWF, 12663
Tham Nguyen
at CrossFit

1996 births
Irish female weightlifters
Sportspeople from Dublin (city)
21st-century Irish women
European Weightlifting Championships medalists
Vietnamese emigrants
Immigrants to Ireland
Sportspeople of Vietnamese descent
Sports businesswomen
Living people