Vietnamese athlete wins world weightlifting champion

For the first time since 2017 and for the second time in history, Vietnam has a world championship. Because six years ago in the US, Thach Kim Tuan also won all three gold medals in the 56kg category, with achievements in snatching 126 kg, pushing 153 kg and 279 kg in total. At that time, another Vietnamese boxer, Tran Le Quoc Toan, also won all three silver medals in this weight class.

A similar scenario recurred at the world championship in Saudi Arabia on September 5, when Gia Thanh achieved a snatch of 123 kg, a push of 146 kg and a total of 269 kg to win the championship. And Ngo Son Dinh won all three silver medals with a total of 8 kg lower than his teammate. Thai athlete Thada Somboon-uan won three bronze medals with a total weight of 259 kg.

Gia Thanh, 25 years old, from Bac Ninh, has won gold medals at all three recent SEA Games also in the 55kg weight category with a total of 264, 268 and 261 kg respectively. He is also the only Vietnamese athlete to have won the SEA Games three times in a row.

The World Weightlifting Championship takes place annually, with weight categories according to the regulations of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), not the IOC. This year's tournament takes place in Riyadh city from September 4 to September 17, with 20 weight classes divided equally between men and women. The 55kg category is the lowest for male athletes to compete.

Today, September 6, the tournament took place in the 61kg men's and 55kg women's events. Vietnam has only two representatives competing today, Nguyen Tran Anh Tuan and Trinh Van Vinh, both in the men's weight category.