Milestone at the 2016 Rio Olympics
Shooting is one of the early sports that brought international achievements to Vietnam. From the 1960s, late shooter Tran Oanh once set a world record in the recurve pistol event at the international military tournament, and also won a gold medal at GANEFO Asia. This is the first mark of Vietnamese shooting on the international sports map.
When reintegrating into regional playgrounds, shooting continued to play a pioneering role. At the 1989 SEA Games, shooter Ngo Ngan Ha brought home the first gold medal for Vietnamese sports in this arena. Since then, this sport has maintained a stable position in the group with the ability to compete for medals in Southeast Asia.
The peak was set at the 2016 Rio Olympics with Hoang Xuan Vinh's achievement. In the men's 10m air pistol event, he won a gold medal and broke the Olympic record.
After that, the shooter born in 1974 continued to win another silver medal in the 50m pistol event. This is the best achievement in Vietnamese sports history at the Olympics, and also affirms the ability to compete at the world level.
Success in Rio did not come from the element of surprise but was the result of a long preparation process, including international training, equipment upgrades and in-depth curriculum development. After this milestone, shooting was identified as a key sport in the long-term investment strategy.
However, the period after 2016 also showed difficulties when key forces passed the peak of form. The achievements in major tournaments showed signs of stagnation, forcing the sports industry to adjust its strategy, focusing more on successor training and improving training quality.
New step in the past half decade
After the force transfer process, Vietnamese shooting recorded clear progress in the continental arena. At ASIAD 19, shooter Pham Quang Huy won a gold medal in the men's 10m air pistol event. This is the first time Vietnamese shooting has topped a event at the Asian Games, marking an important milestone in the development process.
Continuing that achievement, the team maintained their form in international tournaments. Pham Quang Huy and Trinh Thu Vinh won gold medals in the 10m mixed air pistol event at the 2024 Asian Championships, showing the stability of the main athlete group.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Vietnamese shooting did not win a medal but achieved positive professional results. Trinh Thu Vinh entered the final in both women's 10m air pistol and 25m sports pistol events.
In the end, she ranked 4th in the 10m event and 7th in the 25m event, thereby becoming one of the athletes with the best achievements of the Vietnamese delegation at this Games.
At the regional level, SEA Games 33 witnessed the overwhelming dominance of Vietnamese shooting with 8 gold medals, 5 silver medals and 1 bronze medal, leading the overall team.
This achievement reflects the effectiveness of youth training, when many new athletes such as Le Thi Mong Tuyen, Nguyen Thuy Trang or Phi Phuong Thao compete prominently, alongside experienced faces.
Notably, female shooter Trinh Thu Vinh continued to impress when she won 4 gold medals, 1 silver medal, and also broke 3 SEA Games records. This is considered her historic congress, affirming her leading position in the region.
The above results come from synchronous investment over many years. The team has worked with many foreign experts, including coach Park Chung Gun from Korea or recently the Mongolian female coach - Byambajav Altantsetseg.
These experts bring many modern training methods, focusing on techniques, data analysis and competition psychological control.
In parallel with that, the infrastructure system has been improved with electronic shooting ranges, nutrition and biomedical regimes being emphasized. Short-term and long-term training programs abroad are also being implemented, helping athletes get acquainted with the international competition environment.
Currently, Vietnamese shooting is aiming for long-term goals such as ASIAD 2026 and Olympic 2028. The force has a combination of high-performance athletes and a developing next generation, creating a foundation for medal competition at the continental and world levels.
From the 2016 Olympic milestone to the achievements at ASIAD, Olympic and SEA Games recently, Vietnamese shooting is showing synchronous development according to the system. This is the basis for this sport to continue to improve in the upcoming period.
