Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. It is the 13th summer games in which the nation has competed since its first appearance in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. Although it has sent a modest delegation every year it has competed, Vietnam had only earned one

Olympic medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold, silver, and bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respectively. The granting of awards is laid o ...

before Beijing (in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

). The Vietnam Olympic Committee sent thirteen athletes to compete in eight of the 28 Olympic sports. It is the largest ever contingent for the nation, up from 11 in the 2004 games.

Medalists

Athletics

Two athletes represented Vietnam in Beijing. ;Men ;Women

Badminton

Vietnam sent two athletes to compete in two of the five badminton events.

Nguyễn Tiến Minh Nguyễn Tiến Minh (born February 12, 1983) is a Vietnamese badminton player. His best achievement to date was the bronze medal at the World Championship in 2013. Career Introduced to badminton by his father at the early age of 10, Nguy ...

entered ranked 24th in the world, while

Lê Ngọc Nguyên Nhung Lê Ngọc Nguyên Nhung (born 12 February 1984) is a Vietnamese badminton player. She joined the Ho Chi Minh City team in 1996, and was a part of the National team at the 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2009 Southeast Asian Games. She was the National Ch ...

was ranked 72nd.

Gymnastics

Artistic

Đỗ Thị Ngân Thương represented Vietnam in

artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

, becoming the first Vietnamese gymnast to be selected for Olympic competition. Although she did not qualify individually, she received a wild card invitation from the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

. She competed in the qualification stage, where her 52.1 final score placed her in 59th overall, missing the event and all-around competition finals. On 15 August 2008, Thuong failed a drugs test for

furosemide Furosemide is a loop diuretic medication used to treat fluid build-up due to heart failure, liver scarring, or kidney disease. It may also be used for the treatment of high blood pressure. It can be taken by injection into a vein or by m ...

and her result was disqualified. IOC professor

Arne Ljungqvist Arne Ljungqvist (born 23 April 1931) is a Swedish medical researcher, sports personality and retired high jumper. Ljungqvist is an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), chairman of IOC's Medical Commission, and vice chairm ...

suggested Thuong's drug use was due to "poor information of the athlete", rather than a deliberate attempt to violate the rules. ;Women

Shooting

One athlete qualified to compete in two shooting events. Nguyễn Mạnh Tường failed to advance in either the 10 metre or 50 metre pistol events. ;Men

Swimming

One athlete qualified to compete in swimming at the Games, finishing 58th and failing to advance. ;Men

Table tennis

One athlete competed for Vietnam in the men's table tennis singles tournament.

Đoàn Kiến Quốc Đoàn Kiến Quốc (born March 24, 1979 in Nha Trang) is a Vietnamese table tennis player. He won a gold medal, along with his partner Dinh Quang Linh in the men's doubles, at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane, Laos. As of November 20 ...

won his first two matches, but lost in the second round to a Russian opponent.

Taekwondo

Vietnam sent three athletes to compete in three taekwondo events at these Games. The team had an overall record of 1–3, with only Trần Thị Ngọc Trúc managing to win a match. Trần qualified for the repechage after her second round opponent made the final, but could not advance to a bronze medal match.

Weightlifting

Two athletes competed in two weightlifting events at the games. Hoàng Anh Tuấn was ranked fifth in the world in his category and was called Vietnam's best chance at a medal in the Games. This turned out to be an accurate assessment, as he lifted 130 kilograms in the snatch leaving him tied in lift weight for 2nd, but losing a tie on body weight. In the clean and jerk, Hoàng made his first lift at 155 kilos, but missed his second attempt at 160 and fell back to 4th. However, on his final lift he was successful at 160 kilograms, while his opponents in the battle for the silver medal all missed at that weight or selected a lower weight to attempt, moving him into second place by two kilograms. This was just the second Olympic medal in Vietnamese history, and the first in weightlifting.

References

Official 2008 Summer Olympics Results Website
{{Nations at the 2008 Summer Olympics Nations at the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Olympics