VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam's top middle-distance runner Truong Thanh Hang won gold at the Borsig Track and Field Tournament held in Germany over the weekend.


Run for it: Truong Thanh Hang trains at Ha Noi's Indoor Athletics Centre. Hang won a gold medal at the Borsig Track and Field Tournament in Germany. (Photo: VNS)
Despite not competing in her strongest event, the HCM City-born athlete performed outstandingly in the women's 400m to clock a time of 55.67sec.


Coach Ho Thi Tu Tam confirmed her satisfaction at Hang's achievement, saying that during the past Hang had often struggled over 400 and 800m. With Hang's 400m triumph in Germany however her coach is confident that her athlete will perform well in the 800m too.


Hang, the Asian 800m indoor and outdoor champion, has won gold medals at five Southeast Asian (SEA) Games from 2005 to 2009 and two silvers at the 2010 Asian Games.


Absent from the Sparkassen Gala due to injury, Vu Thi Huong returned to Germany to compete in the women's 200m in which she finished second with a time of 24.26sec behind Germany's Esther Cremer.


The Thai Nguyen-born athlete won the silver medal in the women's 100m and the bronze medal in the women's 200m at the 2007 Asian Athletics Championship held in Amman, Jordan. She won an additional bronze medal in the 100m and a silver medal in the 200m at the 16th Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China, in 2009.


Both Huong and Hang are currently training in Germany until June 26 in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics'qualifiers.


Both athletes will compete in the Asian Track and Field Championships in Kobe, Japan, in July; the World Track and Field Championships in Deagu, South Korea, in October and the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia this November.


German experts said that Hang could become one of the top ten female middle-distance runners in the world if she could improve her physical health and durability.


VietNamNet/Viet Nam News