SEA Games: Second gold medal for Vietnamese weightlifting

Following Thach Kim Tuan’s 56kg gold medal in the morning, the weightlifting team went on to add another title to Vietnam’s medal collection in Malaysia, as Trinh Van Vinh took the top honour and broke two SEA Games records in the tense 62kg competition this afternoon.

Trinh Van Vinh celebrates his 62kg title with other members of the weightlifting team.
Trinh Van Vinh celebrates his 62kg title with other members of the weightlifting team.

>>> Thach Kim Tuan secures Vietnam’s first weightlifting gold medal

In the snatch contest, Vinh was successful with his first and second attempts of 130kg and 135kg, but failed to lift 138kg in his last attempt.

Meanwhile, Vinh’s direct competitor, Eko Yuli Irawan of Indonesia, broke his own record of 137kg with a snatch lift of 138kg before successfully lifting 140kg in his next attempt.

The clean and jerk contest saw Irawan settle for a best lift of 166kg and looking to secure the overall crown with a total lift of 306kg.

In that context, after lifting 162kg in his first attempt, in order to win the gold medal, Vietnam’s Trinh Van Vinh decided to register to try the 172kg level, in which he was successful and broke the Games record.

In addition, Vinh also smashed another SEA Games record with a total lift of 307kg, just one kilogram more than the previous record of 306kg that had just been set by Irawan.

Vinh’s gold medal was the second for the weightlifting team in this year’s SEA Games and also the second title won by the Vietnamese athletes today.

Besides the success of weightlifters, Vietnamese competitors also brought home three silver medals – two in taekwondo and one artistic gymnastics – and two additional bronzes in badminton and Muay.