Vietnamese athletes secure two golds from Taiwan Open

Bui Thi Ngan (right) and teammate Nguyen Thi Thu Ha seen celebrating when they won top two places at the 32nd SEA Games' 800m event. Ngan takes gold in the women's 1,500m at the 2024 Taiwan Athletics Open on June 1

Bui Thi Ngan finished first in the women's 1,500m event while Nguyen Trung Cuong topped the men's 3,000m steeplechase hours later at the Taipei Stadium.

Ngan, who won silver at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia last May, and Gayanthika Thushari Artigala Aberathna of Sri Lanka quickly separated from the rest of the pack from from the start. They held the one-two position for most of the race, with the Vietnamese athlete maintaining a 2-metre distance from her rival.

When it was about 100m to the finish line Ngan sprinted up and past Aberathna to finish first in a time of 4min 21.68sec.

Aberathna was second on 4:24.66. She was followed by North Korean Ri Song Hui who clocked 4:32.95.

Another Vietnamese Nguyen Thi Thu Ha also raced in the event. The SEA Games' 800m defending champion however could only come third on 4:34.80.

Hours later, SEA Games winner Cường met no difficulty to secure his gold after running in 9:06.93.

He left behind Sukarya Pandu of Indonesia, who timed 9:10.14, and Lin Zhewei of the hosts, who clocked 9:14.90.

In other activities, SEA Games champion Huynh Thi My Tien placed seventh in the women's 100m hurdles and SEA Games silver medalist Vu Duc Anh was eighth in the men's high jump.

The Taiwan Open will continue on June 2 with different categories. Vietnam have 18 representatives at the tournament. Among them, the women's 4x400m team will seek the Olympic slot here.

TB (according to VNS)