VietNam Culture: Youth Olympic

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Sports kept me out of trouble: Olympic champion

Vietnamese weightlifter Thach Kim Tuan

Photo: Tuoi Tre

2010 Youth Olympic Games weightlifting champion Thach Kim Tuan, 16, talked to Tuoi Tre last week about his humble beginnings and how the athletic career enabled him to help his family and stay off the streets.

Did you expect you were going to get a gold medal ahead of the games?

I thought I could clinch a bronze as, you know, Olympic Games always attract many strong opponents.

So, I was very surprised and extremely happy to win the gold [after conquering the men’s 56kg clean and jerk event with 256kg at the August 13-26 Youth Olympic Games].

Can you tell us about your life?

I dropped out of school when I was in the sixth grade and started training in weightlifting five years ago.

I was recruited in the national team and began earning a monthly salary of VND750,000 (US$39.5). I gave it all to my eldest sister to care for our family of four.

[Tuan was one of 4 brothers and sisters born in the central province of Binh Thuan into a family of very humble means. He lost his parents when he was 3 and the four moved to Ho Chi Minh City to work as street vendors.]

I’ve given weightlifting my best and I don’t regret leaving school early as I was able to help my brothers and sister.

In addition to the gold medal in Singapore, a gold and two silvers at the Junior Asia Championships in the United Arab Emirates and three silver medals at the Junior World Championships in Thailand last year, these competitions earned me a combined VND300 million ($15,800) in cash prizes.

I give my sister my entire current salary of VND11.25 million ($592) a month to save to buy a house in the city.

[The champion and three of his brothers and sisters are now living in a rented house].

What are your current goals?

I want to return to school and improve my academic skills to better comprehend sports lessons as I am planning to become a weightlifting coach later.

I also want more victories at higher tournaments in the world as the Asian Olympic Games and the World Olympic Games.

What lesson has life taught you?

I think I am lucky that sports kept me out of trouble. Many children with similar family circumstances have become street kids.

I have never gotten involved in any street-fight.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Lifter wins nation’s first gold at Youth Olympics

Lifter wins nation’s first gold at Youth Olympics Weightlifter Thach Kim Tuan won the gold medal in the boys’ 56kg category as the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore opened on Sunday.

The 16-year-old lifted a total of 256kg, handily beating Chinese silver medalist Xie Jiawu and Armenian bronze medalist Smbat Margaryan by 2kg with 13kg respectively.

Tuan came to Singapore with a lot of hopes pinned on him after he won gold at the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championship in Dubai in December 2009.

At the Youth Olympic Games, Tuan faced stiff competition from his Chinese and Armenian rivals with the latter already a silver medal winner at the European Youth championship.

In the snatch category, Tuan lifted 116kg while Jiawu lifted 117kg and Margaryan lifted 108kg.

In the clean and jerk category, the Armenian lifted 135kg in his first attempt while Tuan and the Chinese contestant lifted 134kg and 132kg respectively.

Then, Jiawu lifted 137kg while Tuan and Margaryan failed with 139kg and 149kg respectively.

In the deciding round, Tuan succeeded in lifting 140kg, while Jiawu and Margaryan failed at 140kg and 149kg respectively.

On the opening day of the August 14-26 event, Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Hong finished fourth in the 48kg category for women with a total weight of 151kg.

Hong’s result was three kilos less than Venezuelan bronze winner Rodriguez, 12kg less than Thai silver winner and 39kg shy of the Chinese gold winner.

Vietnam’s further medal hopes are pinned on taekwondo artist Nguyen Thanh Thao.

Vietnam’s previous best results at the Olympic Games have been a silver medal won by taekwondo martial artist Tran Hieu Ngan at Sydney in 2000; and a weightlifting silver won by Hoang Anh Tuan at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

VietNam Culture