Vietnamese weightlifter Dang Thi Linh Phuong on Saturday (Vietnam time) broke her personal record to finish third in the women’s 50kg powerlifting event at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in Brazil.

Phuong’s performance earned Vietnam the second medal at a Paralympics so far, after her male teammate Le Van Cong went down in history as the country’s first Paralympic gold medalist, breaking the world’s record in the men’s 49kg powerlifting event the day before.

Phuong, in her thirties, successfully lifted 98kg in her first attempt in the final round of the event, ranking fourth among all competing athletes.

The female weightlifter’s place in the top three was secured after her Chinese and Spanish competitors, Shi Shanshan and Zabala Ollero Loida, failed to lift 103kg, while Phuong succeeded in her second attempt at 102kg.

Falling 5kg behind the leading Ukrainian weightlifter Soloviova Lidiia, Phuong fought for the silver medal against Egyptian athlete Ahmed Rehab by registering 104kg in her third and final attempt.

The Vietnamese weightlifter was flagged by two out of three referees in this attempt, however, as her left arm was too low.

With the performance, Phuong was ranked third with the best lifting of 102kg, behind Lidiia at 107kg and Rehab at 104kg.

The Vietnamese weightlifter also broke her personal record of 97kg set at the 2016 IPC Powerlifting World Cup earlier this year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where she finished second and snatched a silver medal.

Before taking up competitive weightlifting five years ago, the athlete was a craftswoman at a lacquer workshop in Ho Chi Minh City, where her main task was fining shells to make lacquer paintings.

Phuong was introduced to the sport by her friends, and has been practicing part-time in the evening after working during the day.

She is currently an unchallenged female weightlifting champion in Vietnam.

Three other Vietnamese Paralympians in Rio, including swimmer and medalist-hopeful Vo Thanh Tung, also competed in the respective swimming and powerlifting events the same day without success.

Vietnam sent a team of 11 athletes to the 2016 Rio Paralympics, which runs from September 7 to 18.

Phuong’s final attempt in the women’s 50kg powerlifting event at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in Brazil, September 10, 2016. Clip: YouTube

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