Asian Para Games 2014: An impressive start.

(Baonghean) - Just after the opening day, the Vietnamese Paralympic team has already met its target at the 2nd Asian Para Games. As of yesterday's competition (October 20th), Vietnamese athletes had won 5 gold medals and many other silver and bronze medals. Before the departure ceremony to Incheon (South Korea), the target was a modest 4 gold medals. But with their current strong performance, the Vietnamese Paralympic team will surely achieve a "miracle"...

Weightlifter Le Van Cong (center) - world record holder in the 49 kg category.

Participating in this year's tournament, the Vietnamese Paralympic team will compete in six events: athletics, swimming, weightlifting, badminton, table tennis, and bowling, vying for medals against 42 countries and territories across the continent. Based on their current form and achievements, the Vietnamese Paralympic athletes have the potential to win 5-6 medals. However, before departing, the Paralympic team set a very modest target (3-4 gold medals). The reason for setting such a target is partly to avoid putting psychological pressure on the medal-contending athletes, and partly because at the previous Asian Para Games held in Guangzhou (China), the Vietnamese Paralympic team only won 3 gold medals in swimming and badminton, ranking 11th out of 47 participating countries and territories. This is a very proud achievement, but it also creates significant pressure if we set the target too high.

However, after only two days of competition, the Vietnamese Paralympic team surpassed their own expectations to bring home four valuable gold medals for Vietnamese sports. The first gold medal went to weightlifter Le Van Cong, who competed in the men's 49 kg weightlifting category. When speaking of Le Van Cong, Vietnamese sports fans see in him extraordinary willpower. To overcome his fate, from a poor boy born with paralyzed legs, he grew up and moved to Ho Chi Minh City to learn a trade to support himself and help his family. Around this time, he began his sports career. And after only two years of training, Le Van Cong has consistently won gold medals at national and regional Paralympic competitions.

However, Le Van Cong suffered a serious shoulder injury and had to take a two-year break from competition. It seemed he wouldn't be able to recover, but with extraordinary willpower, he returned in 2013 and immediately won the Asian gold medal in the 49 kg weight category. Later, at the Southeast Asian Para Games in early 2014, Cong performed convincingly, winning the gold medal with a lift of 176 kg, thus shattering the Asian record. Coming to this Asian Para Games, he confidently set his sights on becoming champion, registering a lift of 178 kg. He successfully lifted it on his first attempt, securing the gold medal. Thus, his ultimate goal is to break the world record of 181 kg currently held by a Nigerian athlete. A decision that came as a complete surprise to the organizers and the fans in the arena was that Le Van Cong and his coaching staff decided to increase the weight to 181.5 kg, and he caused an outpouring of emotion as he set a new world record in the 49 kg weight class.

Following the success of Le Van Cong, yesterday (October 20th), weightlifter Nguyen Binh An also brought home a gold medal for the Vietnamese Paralympic team in the men's 54 kg weightlifting category, simultaneously breaking the Asian record in this weight class with a performance of 179 kg in just two lifts. Prior to that, athlete Nguyen Thanh Trung won a gold medal in the men's 100m breaststroke (SB4 disability category), and swimmer Vo Thanh Tung was upgraded from silver to gold in the 200m freestyle (SB4 disability category) after the Chinese athlete who won the gold medal was deemed to have the wrong disability category. Finally, at the end of yesterday's competition, Thanh Tung excellently finished first in the men's 50m backstroke, bringing home the 5th gold medal for the Vietnamese Paralympic team.

For able-bodied athletes, achieving success in sports is difficult, but for Vietnamese athletes with disabilities, the path to sports is even more challenging. They must overcome their own limitations under extremely difficult conditions. However, at major sporting events in which Vietnam participates, the achievements of disabled athletes are always something to be proud of. The image of athletes in wheelchairs or with physical disabilities on the podium receiving medals with the Vietnamese flag and national anthem always leaves a deep impression. And with the achievements already made in the first two days of competition, Vietnamese athletes with disabilities will surely create many more surprises, as there are many events in which we have the potential to win medals.

Canh Nam