VietNamNet Bridge – Five Vietnamese track-and-field athletes flew to Almaty, Kazakhstan yesterday, June 27, to compete at the Asian All Star Athletics Meet 2012.



This will be the last chance for them to seek B Olympic standards before the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) to close the list on July 8.

The Asian All Star Athletics Meet 2012, from June 30 to July 1, in Kazakhstan will be the last tournament where Asian athletes can take the last cards to the Olympics.

At this moment, Vietnam has only one track-and-field athlete who has won a ticket to the Olympics – walker Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc. Famous names like runners Truong Thanh Hang and Vu Thi Huong or high-jumper Duong Thi Viet Anh seem to need some luck on their way to London.

Of the five athletes who will compete at the Asian All Star Athletics Meet, Thanh Hang and Viet Anh are the biggest hopes, because they do not suffer from injuries like Vu Thi Huong and their records are very near to the B Olympic standards (2.01.30 minutes for women’s 800m running and 1.92m for women’s high-jump).

Experts said that runner Thanh Hang will have motive force at this event because she will compete with equal rivals, including Margarita Matsko of Kazakhstan and Tintu Luka of India, who already got the Olympic cards.

Viet Anh, who has never hit the height 1.92m but she is able to achieve it because her best record is 1.91cm. So far, only two Asian female high-jumpers of Kazakhstan and Thailand have won the cards.

Vietnamese athletes will have two free days in Kazakhstan. On June 30, Huong will compete at the qualifier round of women’s 100m running category while Hang will participate in the final round of women’s 800m running. On July 1, Viet Anh will compete at women’s high-jump category.

S. Tung