Vietnam competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It marked the nation's ninth Olympic appearance, having notably skipped the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles due to the Soviet-led boycott. The Vietnam Olympic Committee (VOC) dispatched its largest delegation to a non-boycotting Olympic Games, with 23 athletes competing in 10 sports in Rio de Janeiro. Wrestler Vũ Thị Hằng withdrew due to injury a day before her match, reducing the number of competitors to 22. Badminton player Nguyễn Tiến Minh became the first sportsman to represent Vietnam in the Olympics three times in a row. Fencer Vũ Thành An was chosen by the committee to be Vietnam's flag bearer at the opening ceremony.

Vietnam concluded the Games with two medals, achieving the target set by the VOC. Shooter Hoàng Xuân Vinh made history on 6 August 2016, by claiming the nation's first-ever gold medal in the men's 10 m air pistol. Four days later, on 10 August, he won a silver medal in the 50 m pistol, emerging as Vietnam's most decorated Olympic athlete. Despite not winning a medal, Văn Ngọc Tú secured a historic first victory for a Vietnamese judoka in the women's 48 kg category, while Đỗ Thị Anh also scored the first winning match for a Vietnamese fencer. Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên attended three events, the most for any Vietnamese competitors, and broke her own national record in the women's 400-meter individual medley. With its two medals, Vietnam ranked 48th on the medal table, tying with Bahrain.

Medalist

+ List of medalists, with the sport, event, and date of their achievement Medal Name Sport Event Date Hoàng Xuân Vinh Shooting Men's 10 m air pistol Men's 50 m pistol

Background

Vietnam first participated in the Summer Olympics in 1980 in Moscow, following the nation's reunification. Prior to this, the State of Vietnam had competed on six Olympic Games, starting in 1952. The Vietnam Olympic Committee (VOC), established on 20 December 1976, received recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) shortly thereafter. The 1980 delegation comprised 30 individuals competing in four sports. The nation skipped the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles due to the Soviet boycott. Almost two decades later, Vietnam secured its first Olympic medals with two silver medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in taekwondo and the 2008 Beijing Olympics in weightlifting, respectively. Vietnam earned its first bronze medal in weightlifting at the London 2012 Olympics after a disqualification in the men's 56 kg event resulted in the medal being awarded to Trần Lê Quốc Toàn.

The VOC initially dispatched its largest delegation to the Olympic Games, with 23 athletes (10 men and 13 women) competing in 10 sports at the 2016 Summer Olympics. However, wrestler Vũ Thị Hằng withdrew due to injury a day before her match, reducing the number of competitors to 22. This still surpassed their previous record of 18 athletes at the 2012 London Games. For the second consecutive time, the Vietnamese team included more female athletes than males. The fencing and weightlifting teams comprised four members each, the highest number for any sport in the 2016 delegation. The VOC aimed to secure two medals, and chose fencer Vũ Thành An to bear the flag in the parade of nations at the opening ceremony.

+ List of number of Vietnamese competitors in the Games Sport Men Women Total Athletics 1 1 2 Badminton 1 1 2 Fencing 1 3 4 Gymnastics 1 1 2 Judo 0 1 1 Rowing 0 2 2 Shooting 2 0 2 Swimming 1 1 2 Weightlifting 3 1 4 Wrestling 0 1 2 Total 10 12 22

Athletics

In athletics, Vietnam was represented by Nguyễn Thành Ngưng and Nguyễn Thị Huyền. Ngưng was chosen based on his record-breaking result at the Asian Race Walking Championships in March 2016, while Huyền's performance in June 2015 at the Southeast Asian Games met the criteria for both the 2015 World Championships and 2016 Summer Olympics. Ngưng and Huyền both made their Olympic debuts and were the only qualified athletes from Southeast Asia by the International Association of Athletics Federations. Ngưng participated on 12 August in the men's 20 km walk event, finishing 60th out of 63rd competitors on a route along Pontal and failing to advance to the quarterfinals. The following day, Huyền took part in the women's 400 m event at the Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos, where she finished in sixth with 52.97 seconds. On 15 August, she ran her heats in 57.87 seconds and finished at the penultimate position in the women's 400 m hurdles event, only ahead of Natalya Asanova from Uzbekistan.

+ List of track & road events for Vietnamese competitors Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank Nguyễn Thành Ngưng Men's 20 km walk colspan="4" 1:30:01 60 Nguyễn Thị Huyền Women's 400 m 52.97 6 Did not advance Women's 400 m hurdles 57.87 7 Did not advance Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only "N/A" = Round not applicable for the event

Badminton

Vietnam had two qualified badminton players, Nguyễn Tiến Minh and Vũ Thị Trang, for the following events in the Olympic tournament. They were selected among the top 34 individual shuttlers each in the men's and women's singles based on the Badminton World Federation World Rankings as of 5 May 2016. Their ranks were boosted by the performances in March at the 2016 New Zealand Open Grand Prix Gold, where Minh ended up at the semifinals. The 2016 Summer Games marked Trang's first and Minh's third time competing, making Minh the first-ever sportsman to represent Vietnam in three consecutive Olympics. In an interview before the Games, Minh said: "It is my third time so the happiness is multiplied three times... I am confident that my technique has improved a lot." Minh was responsible for directing and supporting Trang's matches, as the badminton players went to Rio de Janeiro without any coaches.

Trang first competed on 12 August, when she played against Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the women's singles event. She ultimately lost to Okuhara after the two-game match, with the score of 2–0 (10–21, 8–21). She went on to win over Lindaweni Fanetri of Indonesia two days later, with the score of 2–0 (21–12, 21–11). Despite finishing in second in the Group J and failing to advance to the Round of 16, Trang still fulfilled her personal goal of getting a winning match. Minh competed in the Group E in the men's singles events, starting with the three-game match against Russia's Vladimir Malkov on 11 August. Minh won the match with the score of 2–1 (15–21, 21–9, 21–13). He scored his second win in the match against Austria's David Obernosterer the following day, with the result of 2-0 (21–18, 21–14). In the final group match on 14 August, Minh played against Lin Dan of China, who had won six previous contests with Minh. Lin ultimately won the match with the score of 2–0 (7–21, 12–21). Despite considering the 2016 Summer Games as his final time at the Olympics, Minh was still chosen to compete in 2021. Minh and Trang were the only couple in Vietnamese sports to compete together at the same Summer Olympics. They married in Ho Chi Minh City in December 2016, shortly after their participation at the Games.

+ List of badminton events for Vietnamese competitors Athlete Event Group Stage Elimination Quarterfinal Semifinal Final / Opposition Score Opposition Score Opposition Score Rank Opposition Score Opposition Score Opposition Score Opposition Score Rank Nguyễn Tiến Minh Men's singles W (15–21, 21–9, 21–13) W (21–18, 21–14) L (7–21, 12–21)2 Did not advance Vũ Thị Trang Women's singles L (10–21, 8–21) W (21–12, 21–11) 2 Did not advance "N/A" = Round not applicable for the event

Fencing

Vietnam entered four fencers into the Olympic competition, all of whom are members of the Hanoian Club. Vũ Thành An, Nguyễn Thị Như Hoa, and Nguyễn Thị Lệ Dung had claimed their Olympic spots with the winning performances at the Asia and Oceania Zonal Qualifier, which took place in Wuxi in April 2016. In the women's foil category, Đỗ Thị Anh lost the final match to New Zealand's Yuan Ping, who was later ruled ineligible to compete because she played under the Chinese jersey. Thị Anh was subsequently selected to replace Ping, as the next highest-ranked fencer, for the Games by the International Fencing Federation in June.

Hoa was the first member to compete in the women's épée event on 6 August, where she lost the match to Auriane Mallo of France with the score of 7–15 and finished last on the final ranking. Hoa was unsatisfied with the result, citing that she did not have enough time to warm up prior to the match. Two days later, Dung was also lost at her only match against Kim Ji-yeon of South Korea on the women's sabre event, with the score of 3–15. Thị Anh competed in the women's foil events on 10 August, starting with the winning match against Aikaterini Kontochristopoulou from Greece with the score of 15–13. It was the first winning match for a Vietnamese fencer at the Olympics. The fencer lost her second match to Italy's Arianna Errigo with a score of 9–15, finishing 32nd out of 35th competitors on the final ranking. That same day, Thành An also took part in the men's sabre events, where he won his first match against the 2012 Olympic silver medallist Diego Occhiuzzi of Italy with a score of 15–12. He lost in his final match with Vincent Anstett from France, with a score of 8–15, and ended up at the 15th position on the final ranking. The fencer attributed his loss to his slow adaptation in changing his playing style, which prevented him from effectively countering his French opponent's strategy.

+ List of fencing events for Vietnamese competitors Athlete Event Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinal Semifinal Final / Opposition Score Opposition Score Opposition Score Opposition Score Opposition Score Opposition Score Rank Vũ Thành An Men's sabre W 15–12 L 8–15 Did not advance Nguyễn Thị Như Hoa Women's épée L 7–15 Did not advance Đỗ Thị Anh Women's foil W 15–13 L 9–15 Did not advance Nguyễn Thị Lệ Dung Women's sabre L 3–15 Did not advance "N/A" = Round not applicable for the event; "Bye" = Athlete not required to compete in round

Gymnastics (artistic)

Vietnam entered two artistic gymnasts into the Olympic competition, Phạm Phước Hưng and Phan Thị Hà Thanh. The gymnasts qualified based on the results of each in the men's and women's apparatus and all-around events, respectively, at the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro in April 2016. Hưng and Thanh had previously attended at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Prior to the 2016 Olympics, Hưng experienced a recurrent back and neck pain from an injury, while Thanh had also not recovered from her knee injury. "We are still very determined... We have high hopes for ourselves," Hưng said. Due to the injury, Hưng announced that he would not competing on the men's rings, a competition Hưng was well-trained, and solely focus on the men's parallel bars event instead. On 6 August, he took part in the men's artistic qualification where he gained a total score of 14.966, sharing the same score as Brinn Bevan of Great Britain. Hưng finished 28th out of 43rd competitors and failed to advance to the final round. The following day, Thanh competed in the women's artistic qualification, where she scored 14.233 points in vault and 13.800 points in balance beam, failing to make into the top eight competitors.

+ List of artistic gymnastics events for Vietnamese competitor (men) Athlete Event Qualification Final Apparatus Total Rank Apparatus Total Rank Phạm Phước Hưng Parallel bars colspan="4" 14.966 14.966 28 Did not advance "N/A" = Round not applicable for the event