Vietnam's taekwondo medallist hailed as hero

Add as a preferred source on Google

Hanoi: Vietnam's first Olympic medallist Tran Hieu Ngan was hailed a hero at home on Friday and her success was seen as a turning point for sport in the country.

Her home town Tuy Hoa, a poor fishing community in Phu Yen province on Vietnam's central coast, was stunned by Ngan's silver medal win in the women's taekwondo in Sydney on Thursday.

"I can't believe it. I thought I was dreaming," the 'Thanh Nien' (Young People) newspaper quoted Ngan's mother, Nguyen Thi Huong, as saying.

Youngsters in Tuy Hoa gathered at the centre of the town on Thursday night and chanted Ngan's name and Friday's newspapers hailed her success.

"Tran Hieu Ngan becomes a national hero" the state-run Vietnam News said in a headline.

The diminutive 26-year-old Ngan had to overcome the biggest tragedy of her life to win the medal when her father died just months before the Olympics.

Earlier this year before leaving for South Korea for three months' training, she had taken her ailing father to Ho Chi Minh City for medical treatment.

She had to interrupt her course in July to return for his funeral.

"This is the first happy day since our father passed away," her sister Tran said.

Truong Ngoc De, chief coach of Vietnam National Taekwondo team, said Ngan's victory was a turning point for sports in Vietnam that would inspire others.

"Hieu Ngan's achievement has moved the whole team and all of Vietnam's spectators," he said.

An editorial in 'Tuoi Tre' (Youth) newspaper said, "At such a high level competition like this, winning a medal is already a magical victory... but if you saw the confidence and the determination to win in this little girl from Phu Yen, you will see this medal is priceless."

Ngan lost the final of the women's 57 kg class on Thursday to South Korea's Jung Jae-Eun but had gone further than any other athlete before from her country of 79 million people, which first competed in the Games in 1980.

Ngan will also pick up a small fortune, winning $20,000 from a corporate sponsor and another $2,000 from her Olympic team.

She plans to save some of the money but use the rest to help more children become involved in the sport in Vietnam.

The martial art of taekwondo, which emphasises kicks, made its debut at the Sydney Games.



(c) Reuters Limited.