Vietnam's first gold medal in taekwondo in 22 years.

After 22 years, Vietnamese taekwondo was able to reclaim its glory in the 54kg weight category, as 21-year-old Nguyen Hong Trong won the gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games yesterday (December 11).

Hong Trong (right) restored glory to Vietnam's taekwondo team in the 54kg weight category at the 33rd SEA Games - Photo: LE HUYNH CHAU

Hong Trong defeated Indonesian fighter Aziz Tumakaka in the final. But the turning point for Trong's first SEA Games gold medal came in the semi-final against the very strong opponent Bryan Barbosa (Philippines) - the champion of this weight class for 3 consecutive SEA Games and a participant in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Trong brilliantly won, making history for himself and Vietnamese taekwondo.

Since Long Dien won the gold medal in the 54kg weight category at the 2003 SEA Games, Vietnamese taekwondo has never won another gold medal. "I am very happy to have defeated Barbosa. He was a very strong opponent, but I overcame him to win the gold medal in my second SEA Games participation. The feeling is even more special because I have restored the glory to the 54kg weight category, which used to be a strength of Vietnamese taekwondo. I will try to maintain this achievement," he said.

Those weren't just empty words. At the 32nd SEA Games, he was eliminated in the first round by Ramnarong Sawekwiharee (Thailand) - a fighter who had won a bronze medal at the World Championships and a silver medal at the Asian Championships. But two years later, Trong defeated an even stronger opponent to win the gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games.

Reaching glory and aiming for higher levels of competition is a great source of happiness for Hong Trong. The SEA Games gold medal will also provide him with a substantial cash prize to help him and his brother take care of their grandmother.

Their parents are no longer together, so the grandmother and her two grandchildren moved from An Giang to Binh Duong to live together in a rented room, with just enough income to get by. The older brother works as a factory worker to support the three of them, while Trong only started contributing later by earning money from taekwondo training.

Hong Trong's journey into taekwondo was quite serendipitous. As a child, he often watched traditional martial arts performances near his rented room in Binh Duong. Seeing the medals awarded to the winners, Trong dreamed of one day experiencing the same! However, the school he attended only taught taekwondo, so he decided to try it out while in sixth grade.

But the more he studied, the more Trọng showed his talent and was called up to the Bình Dương taekwondo team. After winning a gold medal at the national youth championship, Trọng went on to win two more gold medals in the 54kg weight category at the national championship, opening the door to the Vietnamese national taekwondo team. And now he has won his first gold medal at the SEA Games, opening a new and proud journey.

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NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chiec-hcv-sau-22-nam-cua-taekwondo-viet-nam-20251212091711549.htm