VietNamNet Bridge – Phan Thi Ha Thanh made the nation proud by winning a bronze medal in the vault at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Competition in Tokyo, placing her on the team for London.

London calling: Phan Thi Ha Thanh of Viet Nam performs during the women's vault final at the 2011 World Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo. Thanh won the bronze medal. — AFP/VNA Photo

On the first attempt, Thanh was given 14,600 points which put her in the bottom half of the table. The coaches and Thanh then decided to upgrade the difficulty for the final attempt.

Thanh executed a perfect double-twisting Yurchenko salto (a round-off on to the springboard and a back handspring on to the vaulting table, followed by the double twist to the mat) to gain 14,733 points. Average together she had 14,666 points which was enough to take bronze.

American McKayla Maroney and Oksana Chusovitina of Germany took gold and silver respectively.

"It is a valuable medal in my career," said Thanh, who cried when she found out she had won the medal on the eve of her birthday. "Countries sent their best athletes to this competition to gain a berth in London.

"I have trained in the double-twist for months and spent time reviewing it four days ahead of the competition. But it was the first time I performed it in an event.

"I didn't suffer any pressure ahead of the competition. I felt free to do it. I just tried my best and received great support from my team."

National gymnastics participants and sport leaders were all ecstatic after her achievement.

"This is an official the Olympic event," said Nguyen Thi Kim Lan, head of the national gymnastics team. "Many countries have developed their gymnastics to a high level. We came here with a view to learn and gain experience. We just dreamed of passing the qualifying round, we did not dare imagine that we would win a medal."

Lam Quang Thanh, deputy head of the National Sports Administration, said it was a "magic" moment for national gymnastics which none could have imagined, particularly as Viet Nam was faced with a shortage of athletes.

Hai Phong City-born Thanh was sent to gymnastics at the age of six by her mother who wanted her to be stronger when playing sports.

After several years of training Thanh was called in to the national junior team, where she had to live independently of her parents.

Thanh overcame all challenges in her strict training regime, despite the fact there were moments when she was really scared.

"During the early days I was so afraid that I pretended to have colic and my mother had to take me to hospital. Gradually, after watching my seniors, I thought that I could make it," said Thanh.

Coach Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy said Thanh was very motivated.

"She always watches her teammates and the coach during training. She works very hard, even during break time, enhancing her techniques and skills," Thuy said.

Thanh's efforts paid off with her first gold medal at age 11 in 2002, which gave her a place in the national team.

In her Southeast Asian Games debut in the Philippines a year later, Thanh took a bronze medal.

"Those first medals were a strong incentive for me to strive for better results," she said.

Since then Thanh has gained places in many tournaments, including the Asian championships in 2009 and the Portugal World Cup last year.

This year recorded the most outstanding milestones for her as well as the nation. At the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia last month Thanh bagged three of the 11 golds won by the national gymnastics team. Thanh and her teammate, Do Thi Ngan Thuong, made headlines in the region.

Then at the Toyota Cup last Sunday, Thanh again won spectators' hearts with an excellent performance. She was unrivaled in difficulty and execution in both vault attempts. And the world bronze medal lifted her to the world class and was praised in many sport websites.

NBC Universal Sports said: "The newcomer from Viet Nam stunned when she upset defending world bronze medalist Jade Barbosa, of Brazil, for third in the vault. What a heart-warming moment when a small gymnastics country does well."

The sports channel ESPN reported that Thanh was a complete unknown. "After four successful vaults and one world bronze medal she is still unknown to the world but one thing is certain – she can perform on the vault."

Coach Do Thuy Giang said: "The London Olympics is a big challenge for both Thanh and the whole team. She will start training on new exercises with higher difficulty levels. It means Thanh will have to learn new techniques and skills. Taking her to another level will be very tough but physically she is ready."

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News