Home win
In less than two weeks of May 2026, Do Ngoc Linh won two important Gold Medals at international wrestling tournaments held in Da Nang city. In early May, she competed at a high level to win the women's 50kg weight class championship at the 2026 World Beach Wrestling Championships. Currently, Do Ngoc Linh is competing at the 2026 Asian Youth Wrestling Championships (for the U17, U23 age groups) and she contributed the Gold Medal in the women's 50kg freestyle weight class of the U23 group to the Vietnamese wrestling team.
Expressing her feelings at the arena at Tien Son Sports Palace (Da Nang) after winning the 2026 Asian Youth Wrestling Championships, Ngoc Linh said: "The feeling of victory is indeed very meaningful. Athletes participating in the event are all qualified people and I was carefully prepared professionally by the coaching staff. Entering the tournament, I was very determined to achieve the highest results at home and succeeded. I am happy that I won this valuable Gold Medal.
Assessing her student, coach Tran Cong Bac once expressed that Ngoc Linh has been and is growing up remarkably when accumulating expertise and competition techniques through many international tournaments. In the U23 age group of women's freestyle wrestling, Ngoc Linh personally has affirmed her qualities to dominate the arena, so the techniques of locking and tightening to score points against opponents are proficiently performed by the female player.
Going back a year, Ngoc Linh made her mark with a Gold Medal at the 2025 Southeast Asian Wrestling Championship held in Singapore, winning against a strong opponent from Myanmar in the final of the women's 50kg freestyle wrestling category. The championship result is the motivation for this female athlete from Bac Ninh to receive the opportunity to participate in the SEA Games 33 in Thailand in December 2025.
In her first time competing at the SEA Games, Ngoc Linh convincingly won and surpassed opponent Aliah Rose Gavalez (Philippines), winning the Gold Medal in the women's 50kg freestyle wrestling category. "I don't know what to say because the achievement is too touching. I just want to send my thanks to the encouragement of my family, teachers and friends and those who love women's freestyle wrestling," Ngoc Linh expressed on the ring in Thailand last year.
With each Gold Medal of Do Ngoc Linh at the 2026 World Beach Wrestling Championship and the 2026 Asian Youth Wrestling Championship (for the U17, U23 age groups), experts recognize that it is the result of careful preparation. This is a achievement that helps Vietnamese women's wrestling confidently find opportunities to continue developing in the international arena. This year is the first time we have hosted the World Beach Wrestling Championship. In addition, Ngoc Linh's Gold Medal achievement at the 2026 Asian Youth Wrestling Championship (for the U17, U23 age groups) is the first championship of the Vietnamese wrestling team at the tournament.
Want to overcome the Southeast Asian arena
When asked Ngoc Linh about her future professional aspirations, she did not hesitate to express that she is very focused on developing her expertise and does not miss the opportunity if she can touch the achievements in the Asian arena. In particular, Ngoc Linh hopes to be able to repeat the achievement of winning a medal at the ASIAD arena for the Vietnamese wrestling team.
In April this year, she tried her hand at the 2026 Asian Championships held in Kyrgyzstan. This female athlete competed against top continental opponents in the women's 50kg freestyle weight class. Although Ngoc Linh did not go deep into the final rounds to get a medal, she once confided: "Asian women's 50kg freestyle wrestling athletes are all faces of world-class level. I learned more valuable experiences from the Asian Championships. I learned lessons to improve my expertise".
For more than 15 years, the Vietnamese wrestling team has been searching for the next medal in the ASIAD arena. The most recent person to win an ASIAD medal in wrestling for Vietnamese Sports is Nguyen Thi Lua (Silver Medal in the women's 48kg weight class, ASIAD 2010). Ngoc Linh is considered to be able to achieve the same achievements as her senior, but still needs preparation and a bit of luck.
Ngoc Linh started practicing basic freestyle wrestling techniques from the age of 12. She came to the wrestling department of Bac Ninh 2 Training and Sports Competition Center was a coincidence. When she saw that the little girl was hyperactive and liked to practice martial arts, an acquaintance of Ngoc Linh's family introduced her to the center's coaches for selection. The wrestling coaches still remember that after only a short time of getting acquainted, Ngoc Linh adapted to the sports environment and when her family agreed to practice, she officially entered the environment to become a professional wrestler.
Tiring training sessions on the floor and overcoming kicks and throws... help petite girl Ngoc Linh mature more. Sports are not just medal achievements but must have hard training and professional discipline. Ngoc Linh understands that. In 2024, she was focused on the Vietnamese wrestling team. This year, the Vietnamese wrestling team focused forces towards ASIAD 20 and with the form that Ngoc Linh has shown recently, she is fully capable of receiving a spot to Japan to compete in September 2026.
Do Ngoc Linh was born in 2004 in Bac Ninh province. In terms of medal achievements at the world level, Ngoc Linh had her first success at the 2024 World Junior Beach Championships (for the U17, U20 age group) in Greece. At this tournament, Ngoc Linh won a Gold Medal in the women's 50kg weight class. This is the first time she officially stood on the medal podium at a world-class tournament organized by the World Lute Federation. The highest goal that Do Ngoc Linh set for 2026 is to win a ticket to ASIAD 20 and win a Gold Medal at the X-2026 National Sports Games.
