Vietnamese bodybuilding makes a "golden hat-trick" of world championships

(NLDO) – Pham Van Phuoc won the world classical bodybuilding championship for three consecutive years, and Nguyen Thi Kim Dung won her fifth world gold medal after three seasons.

After winning 5 championships to temporarily lead the medal tally on the first day of competition, on November 15, the Vietnamese bodybuilding team continued to stir up the competition stage of the 2025 World Bodybuilding & Fitness Championship taking place on Batam Island, Indonesia.

Tran Hoang Duy Thuan before the match

Salute the Vietnamese flag at the medal award ceremony for Tran Hoang Duy Thuan

In the classic bodybuilding category for male athletes up to 1.70 m tall, Tran Hoang Duy Thuan successfully defended the championship title he won last season in the Maldives. This is the second gold medal for the athlete from Ho Chi Minh City after he and his teammate Bui Thi Thoa won the gold medal in the mixed doubles bodybuilding category the day before.

Not wanting to be outdone by her senior teammate and coach, Bui Thi Thoa excelled over all her opponents to win the women's bodybuilding 55 kg category. For the first time, the 31st SEA Games champion stepped onto the highest podium in the individual category after many years of participating in the world arena.

Bui Thi Thoa won her first individual gold medal at the world championships.

Tran Hoang Duy Thuan and Bui Thi Thoa thus contributed to bringing home 3 championship titles, a kind of "golden hat-trick" in this tournament, although individually, the two teachers and students each owned 2 gold medals. The joy of the two members of "Team Sinh Doi", a very famous training "furnace" in Ho Chi Minh City where Tran Hoang Duy Thuan is the head coach, was multiplied when player Nguyen Thi Kim Dung brought home her second world championship title in this tournament.

Three members of "Team Twins" contributed 5 championships

Two gold medals in the women's fitness and women's classical bodybuilding categories with a height of 1.65 m helped Kim Dung - who is still training at "Team Sinh Doi" - win her 5th world championship title after only three seasons of participation.

In all three major events in 2025, from the national championship, the Asian championship to the world championship, Nguyen Thi Kim Dung won a "double" of gold medals.

Nguyen Thi Kim Dung won 2 gold medals

Also making a strong impression at this tournament was the absolute victory of Pham Van Phuoc in the classic bodybuilding category for male athletes up to 1.60 m tall. The athlete from Da Nang became the world champion for the third consecutive year, a real "phenomenon" of the classic bodybuilding arena as these categories always gather a large number of top candidates.

Pham Van Phuoc is "unrivaled" in the classic bodybuilding category with a height of 1.60 m.

Winning 4 more gold medals, 2 silver medals and 1 bronze medal on the second day of competition, the Vietnamese bodybuilding team continued to maintain its top position in the overall rankings (9 gold medals, 4 silver medals, 1 bronze medal) against the fierce pursuit of India (7 gold medals, 7 silver medals, 5 bronze medals), Mongolia (7 gold medals, 3 silver medals, 4 bronze medals) and many other strong teams such as Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong - China...

The tournament ended after the third day of competition (November 16) and the Vietnamese team still had 4 athletes competing.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/the-hinh-viet-nam-lap-ky-tich-hat-trick-vang-vo-dich-the-gioi-19625111518454279.htm