The love story of the Vietnamese weightlifter who won the 2016 Paralympic gold medal

Chu Thi Tam felt her heart stop beating when she saw her husband compete and win a gold medal in weightlifting at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

Le Van Cong was excited to bring home the first Paralympic gold medal for Vietnamese sports. Photo: Reuters.

Conquering the weight of 181kg, Le Van Cong is not sure to win the gold medal in the men's 46kg category. His opponent, QaradaOmar, also registered for the same weight. If successful, the Jordanian weightlifter would win the overall title thanks to his lighter body weight.

When Omar entered the deciding lift, Van Cong was inside the waiting room watching on the TV screen. Halfway around the world, his wife and son also held their breath. “At that moment, my heart stopped beating and when my opponent could not lift the last weight, I wasjump for joy", Ms. Chu Thi Tam shared.“My son and I stayed up late to watch him compete. We both hugged and cried afterwards.”

After securing the gold medal at 181kg, Van Cong also conquered 183kg to break the world record. However, in the second attempt, the Vietnamese athlete failed at 179kg. “However, I still told myself and had faith that he would succeed at a higher weight. And that was exactly what happened. He is a brave person and always knows how to overcome difficulties at the right time,” Ms. Tam added.

After bringing home the first Paralympic gold medal in history for Vietnam, the weightlifter born in 1984 texted his wife: "Let me tell you two, I have won the gold medal." He also did not forget to tell his wife and children to go to bed early because it was almost 2am.In Vietnam.

Overcoming barriers, Ms. Chu Thi Tam and Mr. Le Van Cong became husband and wife. Photo: NVCC.

Le Van Cong left his poor hometown of Ha Tinh to start a career in Ho Chi Minh City in 2005.With the desire to overcome fate, he joined the youth vocational club for the disabled and was introduced to the Tan Binh district weightlifting club. He fell in love with weightlifting from there.Ms. Chu Thi Tam also came from Nghe An to the South to study and live in 2006. Then fate brought these two people far from home together. “We met by chance, when Cong and his friends came to visit a friend of mine,” she revealed. “I liked him from the first time we met. He looked honest, gentle, calm but full of determination.”

Being an ordinary person, when she met an unfortunate person like Le Van Cong, Ms. Tam was strongly opposed by her family. Her parents even forced her to return to her hometown to "separate the gap". Overcoming all obstacles and prohibitions, she finally convinced her family to let her be with Mr. Cong. "Maybe it was fate that made us become husband and wife. My parents later loved him more than me," she shared with a smile.

Le Van Cong's wife and son welcomed him home after his victory. Photo: NVCC.

They got married in 2008 and now have two children, a first-grader and a six-month-old daughter. In 2014, they left their cramped rented room in Ho Chi Minh City for a spacious house in Duc Hoa District, Long An Province, using the money they had saved over the years.

“We also wanted to live in Ho Chi Minh City so that it would be convenient for Cong to practice and compete and for our children to have the opportunity to study, but because we didn’t have enough money, we bought a house far away,” said Ms. Tam. “Every time he goes to a big tournament, Cong goes to Saigon to train all week. On Sundays, he comes back to play with his children for a while and then leaves again.”

Apart from training and competing, Van Cong only stays at home with his wife and children. Having studied electronics when he first came to Ho Chi Minh City, he also takes on machine repair jobs to earn extra income or to help people in the village. Despite the difficulty of traveling, he does not hesitate to help anyone who needs him to pack or hire him to do manual labor.

Before winning the historic gold medal in Brazil, Le Van Cong won the 2005 national silver medal, the 2007 Asian gold medal, the 2007 World Weightlifting Championship silver medal, the 2009 and 2014 Para Games gold medal, the 2014 World February silver medal, the 2014 Asian Games gold medal, and the 2015 Asian gold medal.

According to VNE