Vietnam won its first triple jump bronze medal at the Asian Championships.

Thailand Athlete Nguyen Thi Huong finished third overall, helping Vietnam win its first triple jump medal at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships.

Nguyen Thi Huong (right) won a historic triple jump bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships. Photo: Screenshot — Nguyen Thi Huong (right) won a historic triple jump bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships. Photo: *screenshot*

In tonight's competition, Nguyen Thi Huong achieved 13.68 meters, just behind Mariko Morimoto - Japanese athlete with 14.06 meters, and Rui Zeng, Chinese athlete with 14.01 meters. Huong made history by becoming the first Vietnamese athlete to win a medal in this event, also the first medal of the delegation at this year's tournament in Thailand.

Before the final jump, Nguyen Thi Huong jumped the second and fourth jumps, her results for the remaining jumps were 13.12 meters, 13.47 meters and 13.57 meters respectively. Huong had to surpass the 13.63 meter mark of Japanese athlete Maoko Takashima to hope to win the bronze medal. After completing the jump, Huong bent down, held her breath and burst into happiness when she learned the result, only 5 cm better than her opponent.

Nguyen Thi Huong won the bronze medal in the Asian triple jump. — Nguyen Thi Huong's performance on the evening of July 12.

Nguyen Thi Huong has been competing in the women's triple jump for 10 years. Her performance in Bangkok today exceeded the expectations of both the 2001-born athlete and the coaching staff. She even surpassed Thai athlete Parinya Chuaimaroeng, who just won the gold medal at the 32nd SEA Games and the silver medal at the 2018 ASIAD. At the 32nd SEA Games, Huong won the bronze medal with a score of 13.46 meters. Previously, she achieved 12.94 meters when she won the silver medal at the 2022 National Sports Festival.

The 2023 Asian Athletics Championships will be held from July 12 to July 16 at Suphachalasai Stadium, Thailand, with more than 40 participating countries. The tournament will be considered for qualifying results for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Vietnamese athletics team will participate with 20 athletes.

Before Huong, Nguyen Thi Oanh only finished fifth in the women's 1,500m race. Nguyen Tung Lam and Tran Dinh Son failed to qualify for the men's 400m race.

Hieu Luong

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