Weightlifter Le Van Cong won a bronze medal in weightlifting.

On the morning of October 23, despite suffering from a torn shoulder muscle, weightlifter Le Van Cong still competed with great effort, bringing home a bronze medal for the Vietnamese para-weightlifting team.

Weightlifter Le Van Cong (right) won a bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Para Games. (Photo: Thai Duong)

This is also the first medal of the Vietnamese delegation at the 4th Asian Para Games (Asian Para Games 2023).

In the men's weightlifting category under 49kg, weightlifter Le Van Cong failed in his first attempt at 170kg. However, he did not give up and decided to increase the weight to 171kg and successfully performed it to the joy of the coaching staff and teammates.

With the successful completion of 171 kg, weightlifter Le Van Cong was sure to have at least a bronze medal, so he raised his weight to 173 kg to compete for the silver medal with Al-Sudani Muslim (Iraqi). Le Van Cong continued to be successful at 173 kg, but weightlifter Al-Sudani Muslim also completed this weight successfully and ranked higher thanks to the secondary index.

Accordingly, Le Van Cong won the bronze medal, the silver medal went to athlete Al-Sudani Muslim, and the gold medal in this event went to athlete Omar Qarada (Jordan) when he successfully lifted 182 kg, breaking Le Van Cong's Asian Para Games record set in 2014.

Athlete Le Van Cong is the most successful Vietnamese disabled athlete, having won a gold medal at the 2016 Paralympic Games, a silver medal at the 2020 Paralympics, a gold medal at the 2023 World Championships, and many times won the championship at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games)...

The 39-year-old athlete from Ha Tinh also holds all three records in this weight class, including the world record (183.5 kg), the Asian record (183.5 kg) and the Asian Para Games record (181.5 kg). However, Le Van Cong recently suffered a recurrence of his shoulder injury and had to take painkillers.

Sharing with the press about this result, Le Van Cong said: "I was in pain so I didn't practice any sessions when I went to Hangzhou. Before the match, I didn't know if I could lift the weights or not.

I thought about the possibility of having to give up but then accepted the pain to compete. I didn't win the gold medal, missed the chance to win the silver medal, but with this injury, I have to be satisfied with the result I achieved."

As of 12:30 on October 23, the Chinese paralympic team led the medal tally with 9 gold medals, 11 silver medals and 6 bronze medals. With 1 bronze medal, the Vietnamese paralympic team is currently ranked 13th.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/asian-para-games-2023-do-cu-le-van-cong-gianh-huy-chuong-dong-mon-cu-ta-247146.html