Injured 100m champion Chinh ruled out of SEA Games

At the Games in Hà Nội, Việt Nam believe that  一 七 golds will be enough to maintain the top position, beating possible threats from other rivals, especially Thailand.

Chinh’s absence will be a loss for the runner herself as she cannot compete at home. And Việt Nam will also suffer as Chinh’s gold is counted as one of the country’s target of  一 七 golds to top the overall ranking.

Chinh’s fellow runners, Lê Thị Mộng Tuyền and Hà Thị Thu, are not considered title favourites as their personal bests are not in the SEA Games’ top three.

General Secretary Hùng said: “We regret her absence which will affect Việt Nam’s target. Now, in short distance sprint events, we can only look for title from the  四x 一00m team.

“This year, Thailand strongly vie for the top position with Việt Nam. After two Games finishing behind us, they continued naturalising athletes. Recently they have naturalised athletes from Australia to run in the men’s  四00m and  八00m event. Last Games they imported one from the US who won our golds in the men’s  五,000m and  一0,000m.

“Our target of  一 五 to  一 七 golds will be tough. Our athletes must strive harder to complete their tasks,” he said. — VNS