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Vietnam claims first-ever Paralympic gold medal

Vietnam claims first-ever Paralympic gold medal

Friday, September 09, 2016, 08:17 GMT+7

Paralympic weightlifter Le Van Cong’s final attempt in the men’s 49kg paralympic weightlifting competition made history for Vietnam as he secured the country’s first ever paraylympic gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in Brazil at dawn on Friday (Vietnam time).

Cong became the first-ever Vietnamese athlete to snatch a Paralympic gold medal as he finished the competition with a new world record of 183kg.

Silver medalist Omar Qarada from Jordan finished far behind, with a lift of only 177kg. The bronze medal went to Hungarian Nandor Tunkel, who lifted 155kg.

Le Van Cong (C) receives the gold medal. Photo: Tuoi Tre

According to the Paralympic.org website, Cong broke the Paralympic record with his first attempt at 175kg but Qarada topped Cong’s first attempt with a 177kg lift on his second attempt.

Cong failed at his second attempt of 179kg to remain in the silver medal position going into the final round.

However, the Vietnamese rose to the occasion with a successful 181kg effort, propeling himself back into the lead and into the history books with a new Paralympic record.

Team Vietnam sent 11 athletes to the ongoing 2016 Rio Paralympics.

With over a week left in the Rio Games, the team is in high spirits and proud to continue showering Vietnam with glory on the back of the country’s first Olympic gold last month with a record-breaking performance by shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh.

The Paralympic Games runs from September 7 to 18.

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