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Nguyen Thi That celebrates her victory. |
With this victory, she successfully defended her gold medal at the Asian Road Cycling Championships.
After Thach Thi Ngoc Thao unexpectedly brought home a gold medal for the Vietnamese U18 women's cycling team at 8 a.m., the four female cyclists Nguyen Thi Thu Mai, Nguyen Thi Thi, Nguyen Thi That, and Tran Thi Thuy Trang appeared to be infused with even more determination as they geared up for the women's elite road race event. This is the event where Vietnam has high hopes of winning a medal, thanks to the participation of Nguyen Thi That, an exceptional sprint cyclist in Asia who secured the gold medal in this event last year.
In this race scheduled for 10 a.m., the organizing committee merged the U23 women's category with the women's national team category, with a distance of 109 kilometers. A total of 84 cyclists from 20 countries participated in this combined race for the two age groups. Among them, Vietnam was represented by three cyclists in the U23 women's category, Quach Thi Phuong Thanh, Lam Thi Thuy Duong, and Tran Huynh Anh Van.
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South Korean racers are always at the top waiting for an opportunity to attack. |
Due to Vietnam's possession of Nguyen Thi That and Thailand's possession of Jutatip, both renowned sprinters in the region, other strong teams like China, South Korea, Kazakhstan, and Hong Kong were constantly launching attacks. Their objective was to successfully break away and seize opportunities to compete for rankings, preventing Vietnam from leading a unified sprint to the finish line. In this situation, Nguyen Thi That's sprinting prowess gives her a distinct advantage, putting the other teams at a disadvantage.
Even though the teams from China, South Korea, and Kazakhstan were well aware of each other's strategies, they could not penetrate Vietnam's strong defensive formation. The "guards" Nguyen Thi Thi, Nguyen Thi Thu Mai, and Tran Thi Thuy Trang, along with the young teammates in the U23 team, provided exceptional support to Nguyen Thi That. Whenever a group tried to break away with a slight advantage of tens of seconds, Nguyen Thi That was promptly brought back to the leading group by her teammates.
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Nguyen Thi That (center) receives the gold medal. |
In the last 40 km, the teams' attacks grew fiercer, but it was also the moment when the Vietnamese girls demonstrated their unity and ability. After effectively neutralizing all the strikes and regrouping smoothly, it was Nguyen Thi That's turn to finish the race. In the final 200 meters, the cyclist from Loc Troi Group unleashed her strong leg sprint, swiftly surpassing Sun Jiajun (China) and Jutatip (Thailand) to secure the first-place position.
This marks Nguyen Thi That's third gold medal victory at the Asian Road Cycling Championships. She and Thach Thi Ngoc Thao will receive a cash prize of VND50 million each from the Vietnam Cycling Federation.
