VietNamNet Bridge – Pham Thi Hien of Ha Noi finished first in the women’s marathon on the last day of the National Athletics Championships in Ha Noi yesterday.

The Army team won the championship with nine gold, four silver and two bronze medals.(Photo:http://www.thethaohcm.com.vn)

The Army team won the championship with nine gold, four silver and two bronze medals, while Ha Noi came second with six gold, six silver and 14 bronze medals.

An Giang ranked third in the medals tally with four golds, two silvers add one bronze.

In the men’s marathon, Nguyen Dang Duc Bao of Khanh Hoa won the men’s title with a time of 2:34.36.

Although competing in a rain-sodden Ha Noi yesterday, Nghe An’s Nguyen Ngoc Dung took the gold medal in the men’s 20km walk with a time of 1:37.30.

The result surpassed the old record of 1:41.30 set by Quang Ngai’s Pham Cong Hai at the championship in HCM City last year.

Hai finished 6 minutes and 15 seconds slower than the winner, taking the silver medal.

Phan Van Tam of Ninh Thuan came in third.

The organising committee denied the men’s walk record since bad weather has battered Ha Noi for five days.

On Monday, Le Thi Hang of Thanh Hoa Province and Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc of Da Nang City broke two records in the women’s 3,000m steeple chase and women’s 10,000m walk respectively.

Eighteen-year-old Hang covered the 3,000m in 10 minutes 43.69 seconds and broke the record set by Nguyen Thi Quyen of Ha Tinh Province in last October by 11.94 seconds.

Phuc walked the 10,000m in 52:7.93 to break the 54:02.81 record set by Le Thi Gai of Thanh Hoa in 2005.

Da Nang took their second gold of the day in the women’s triple jump due to Nhat Thanh’s 13.13m result.

An Giang, who signed a contract with the Southeast Asian (SEA) sprint queen Vu Thi Huong, tasted victory on Monday with her gold medal in the women’s 200m event. Huong’s three other golds for the team were in the women’s 100m individual, 4×100m relay.

Ninh Binh-born Nguyen Dinh Cuong who triumphed at the men’s 800m on Sunday grabbed his second gold in the men’s 1,500m with a time of 4:2.89. The SEA Games champion and record holder still has no worthy rivals in this championship.

It was a hard day for SEA Games gold medalist Truong Thanh Hang of HCM City. Hang is the best in the nation in the women’s 800m and 1,500m, but she was asked to take part in the 5,000m to help her team.

Hang had to over exert herself to win the 5,000m event organised in the morning and was completely exhausted after defending her title in the 1,500m in the afternoon.

Coach Ho Thi Tu Tam of the national team who trains Hang said she would not agree to let Hang race in the 5,000m event, which was not her favourite, if Hang is to take part in other international tournaments.

But the national championship is the last tournament of the year and Hang’s gold medal played a key role to help her team rank in the top five overall.

Cao Thi Hang, a rare female member of the Army team, won a gold medal in the women’s 100m hurdle with a time of 14.10.

(Source: Viet Nam News)