Huong disqualified at 100m track, takes eighth

(18-08-2008)

HA NOI — Viet Nam’s top sprinter Vu Thi Huong finished eighth in the women’s 100m quarter-finals at the Beijing Olympics, clocking in at 11.70 seconds, not quick enough for a semi-final spot.

Last Saturday, Huong qualified for the quarter-finals when she hit 11.65 seconds in the heat, just behind Belgium’s Kim Gevaert, who clocked 11.33 seconds, and Belarus’ Yuliya Nesterenko with 11.40 seconds.

The Thai Nguyen-based athlete, who made her best running time of 11.33 seconds at the Asian Athletic Championships last July, started off poorly in the heat, but accelerated in the last 50m to qualify for the quarter-finals.

However, the Southeast Asian Games gold medallist couldn’t compete against powerhouses Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie of the Bahamas, Oludamola Osayomi of Nigeria and Ghana’s Vida Anim, all of whom qualified for the semis.

Her poor performance in Beijing may be because Huong lost her coach last December, after Thailand’s Southeast Asian Games.

She was only able to train for a few months with Nguyen Dinh Minh in HCM City before leaving for Beijing.

The 22-year-old runner was the ninth Vietnamese athlete to leave the Beijing Olympics so far, including swimmers Nguyen Huu Viet and Tran Thi Thuan, shooter Nguyen Manh Tuong, gymnast Do Thi Ngan Thuong and weightlifters Hoang Anh Tuan and Nguyen Thi Thiet.

Only Hoang Anh Tuan grabbed a silver medal for Viet Nam in the men’s 56kg last Sunday.

Huong’s teammate Nguyen Dinh Cuong—a 2007 SEA Games gold medallist—will take to the men’s 800m track at the Games tomorrow.

Table tennis player Doan Kien Quoc, 29, who qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games after winning the regional Olympic qualifiers in Singapore earlier this year, will meet David Zalcherg from Australia, ranked 438th in the world, in the men’s singles tomorrow.

Viet Nam is represented by 21 athletes at this year’s Olympics, competing in nine disciplines: wushu, taekwondo, track and field, weightlifting, shooting, table tennis, swimming, gymnastics and badminton.

Viet Nam’s best event, wushu, is only a demonstration sport at this year’s Olympics and any medals won will not be counted in the final tally.

The nation’s last hope will be taekwondo martial artists Nguyen Thi Ngoc Truc and Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu in the women’s 49kg and 57kg, along with Nguyen Van Hung in the men’s 80kg category. — VNS