Three Vietnamese weightlifters book places at Tokyo Olympics
VOV.VN - Three Vietnamese weightlifters have successfully qualified for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics which are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8, according to the Vietnam Bodybuilding and Weightlifting Federation.
The trio are Hoang Thi Duyen, Vuong Thi Huyen, and Thach Kim Tuan.
They had previously been named in the rankings for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualifiers by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) due to their stellar performances at the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 2019) which took place in the Philippines.
Do Dinh Khang, general secretary of the federation, announced the good news on June 12, saying the IWF and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had sent email confirming the slots.
This is good news for Vietnam, as Vietnamese weightlifters have not been banned from competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to a doping penalty, said Khang.
He added that in line with the rules of the IWF, any country found to have recorded three or more doping violations during the course of the Olympics qualifiers, which began back in November 2018, may face a ban from competing at the event.
Vietnamese weightlifters over the past two years have had four athletes test positive for banned substances. However, the IWF did not hand out any punishment to the Vietnamese weightlifting team for doping.
Currently, Vietnam has earned 14 places for the upcoming Olympics, including Phuong Thanh and Thanh Tung in gymnastics, Huy Hoang in swimming, Nguyen Van Duong and Nguyen Thi Tam in boxing, along with local pair Phi Vu and Anh Nguyet in archery. This is in addition to Luong Thi Thao and Dinh Thi Hao in rowing, Truong Thi Kim Tuyen in taekwondo, and Nguyen Tien Minh and Nguyen Thuy Linh in badminton, along with Thi Duyen, Vuong Thi Huyen, and Thach Kim Tuan in weightlifting.
