Le Van Cong re-established world record at Para Games 7

On January 16, the 7th Southeast Asian Games for the Disabled (Para Games 7) continued to take place at the Wunna Theikdi Stadium complex. The Vietnamese sports delegation continued to achieve impressive results to defend its position in the leading group.

On the morning of January 16, Vietnamese athletics continued to receive good news when athlete Nguyen Thi Thuy won a gold medal in the long jump in the F44 disability category with a result of 3m36, breaking the Para Games record. Second place also belonged to another Vietnamese athlete, Lai Thi Ngoc Anh, with a result of 3m29.

Previously, discus thrower Cao Ngoc Hung also conquered the mark of 45.87m to successfully defend his Para Games gold medal, while breaking his own previous record.

The most notable event of the day was weightlifting. The weightlifters won two gold medals in the most impressive fashion. The reigning Asian champion Nguyen Binh An successfully defended his gold medal at this Games by maintaining his record of 170kg in the 54kg weight class.

Meanwhile, athlete Le Van Cong was even more outstanding than his teammate, when he broke a series of Para Games records in Asia and re-established the world record in the 49kg weight class. Van Cong's achievement at this Games was to successfully conquer the weight of 176kg, equal to the world championship achievement that the Nigerian athlete set at the 2012 London Paralympics.

Weightlifter Van Cong won a gold medal in the 49kg category. (Photo: Huy Hung/VNA)

With the two Asian champions re-establishing their records, Vietnamese weightlifters had a joyful morning as both athletes won gold medals. President of the Asian Paralympic Association Datuk Zainal personally came to congratulate and present medals to the athletes. In addition, Vice President of the Vietnam Paralympic Association Nguyen Danh Nga also awarded Van Cong an additional VND1 million.

Datuk Zainal, President of the Asian Paralympic Association, said: “I am very surprised, touched and admire the extraordinary determination of disabled athletes, because a Vietnamese athlete has set a world record right in the Southeast Asian playground. Hopefully in the future, you will have appropriate investments so that Van Cong can achieve even higher results at the world championship taking place in Dubai this year."

For his part, Le Van Cong appeared very emotional when answering the interview: “I am very proud and honored to have this achievement. The results of many years of training in difficult conditions have helped me overcome myself. I would like to dedicate this victory to my family, friends and Vietnamese sports lovers, especially disabled athletes. I hope everyone will work together to integrate into the community and contribute better to society."

Swimming is still the spearhead sport of Vietnamese sports in this tournament. Dong Quoc Cuong said that there were 5 more gold medals, 3 silver medals and 5 bronze medals won by athletes as of 2:00 p.m. In particular, the most outstanding was swimmer Vo Huynh Anh Khoa with his second gold medal in the 200m freestyle event in the S9 disability category. Anh Khoa still had no rivals when he finished nearly 25m ahead of the second place winner and broke the Para Games record. Dang Van Cong won the gold medal and broke the 50m backstroke record in the S8 disability category. Pham Thanh Son won the gold medal in the 100m butterfly in the S9 disability category, Nguyen Van Hanh won the gold medal in the 50m breaststroke in the Sb12 disability category. Nguyen Duc Thien won the gold medal in the 50m backstroke in the S7 disability category./.

According to VNA