The 31st SEA Games has ended, but the echoes of a successful Southeast Asian Games linger in many hearts still. For Vietnamese weightlifting, an unforgettable moment was when Pham Thi Hong Thanh broke three SEA Games records consecutively, successfully defending her championship in the women's 64kg weightlifting category.
The 31st SEA Games has ended, but the echoes of a successful Southeast Asian Games linger in many hearts still. For Vietnamese weightlifting, an unforgettable moment was when Pham Thi Hong Thanh broke three SEA Games records consecutively, successfully defending her championship in the women's 64kg weightlifting category.
Weightlifter Pham Thi Hong Thanh was born in 1999 in Hai Duong. Hong Thanh fell in love with weightlifting by chance when she went to Nghe An to study swimming at Nghe An Sports Training Center. The coaches there discovered that Thanh had the qualities suitable for weightlifting and persuaded her to start training as a professional.
During her training in Nghe An, Hong Thanh once had the opportunity to study at university in South Korea, but decided to put the studies aside to focus on weightlifting. She has never regretted the decision.
Weightlifter Pham Thi Hong Thanh with her gold medal in the women's 64kg category at SEA Games 31.
After five years of training, in 2019, Hong Thanh attended the 30th SEA Games for the first time which were held in the Philippines. Debuting at a major arena, the 20-year-old girl exceeded all expectations and won gold in the women's 64kg category.
Back to the 31st SEA Games, many spectators attending Hanoi Sports Competition and Training Center on the afternoon of May 21, 2022 might recall the intense and spectacular competition among the athletes in the women's 64kg category.
Pham Thi Hong Thanh entered the match as defending champion. Her challenge was intense. The 30th SEA Games were missing some outstanding names in regional weightlifting but they returned for the 31st. Hong Thanh had to face strong opponents such as Tsabitha Alfiah Ramadani (Indonesia) and Quinilitan Ando Elreen Ann (the Philippines). Fierce competition was sparked right from the snatch session. Hong Thanh succeeded at 98kg - the SEA Games record - at her first lift.
But right after that, Quinilitan Ando Elreen Ann raised the weight to 100kg in her second lift and succeeded - which meant breaking the SEA Games record. Tsabitha Alfiah Ramadani also succeeded with 100kg weight in her third time.
When Pham Hong Thanh chose 101kg in her turn and succeeded, the Filipino athlete chose 103kg in her last snatch and, once again, broke the record newly set by Hong Thanh. Under immense pressure, but with tremendous efforts, Hong Thanh successfully lifted a104kg weight, taking the highest snatch achievement and setting a new SEA Games record.
Continuing into the clean and jerk, the Indonesian and Filipino competitors both were successful with 120kg. But once again, Pham Hong Thanh with strong and decisive lifts broke through and succeeded with a weight of 126kg - setting a new SEA Games record of women's 64kg clean and jerk and put a beautiful ending to one of the most exciting competitions of SEA Games 31’s weightlifting.
Pham Thi Hong Thanh successfully defended her championship and set three new SEA Games records with a total of 230kg, which is 16kg more than the old SEA Games record (214kg) and equal to bronze medal in the same category of the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.