By Dong Hua, Tao Jun
HANOI, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- The 42-year-old marksman Hoang Xuan Vinh, who has on Sunday won the first-ever Olympic gold medal for Vietnam, has two career secrets.
For four years, or 1,400 days, before each shooting practice session, military colonel Hoang Xuan Vinh from Hanoi shouted clamorously: "I'm an Olympic medalist." The catchphrase was made up by his woman trainer Nguyen Thi Nhung after he returned home empty-handed in 2012.
At the 2012 London Olympics, Vinh made all oustanding shots but the last one, failing to grab a bronze medal eventually gained by Chinese marksman Wang Zhiwei. At the 2010 Asiad (Asian Games) in Guangzhou, China, his terrible last shot also robbed him of a gold medal.
On Sunday early morning (Vietnamese time), after the last outstanding shot which scored 10.7 points, Vinh claimed the men's 10m air pistol event at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil, and broke the Olympic record.
"Before the last shot, I thought of Nhung (Vinh's trainer)'s words. That is in the most difficult situation, we must be most self-controlled and confident," Vinh said after making history.
However, Vinh acknowledged that he had planned to leave his career after his bitter failure at the 2012 London Olympics. His failures were mainly attributed to his instability of focusing mind in decisive, intense situations.
To overcome that psychological shortcoming, Vinh resorted to another secret. For one year, he practiced only one simple posture over and over -- standing still, making no single moves, saying no single words for two consecutive hours.
Besides the psychological hurdle, Vinh has to overcome another obstacle related to Vietnam's limited budget for sports training. Each day, the marksman is allocated only 100 bullets for practice, one-fifth of the bullets his foreign peers receive.
However, Vinh receives strong support, and quiet sacrifice from his wife.
On Sunday noon, Vietnam's top sports officials came to Vinh's small apartment on Hanoi's Tran Thai Tong Street to thank his family. When the officials entered the room, Vinh's wife, Phan Huong Giang, was packing her luggage for a one-week business trip. She does office work at the Military Sports Center.
Giang said Vinh is her elder brother's close friend. After one year of courtship, Giang and Vinh married and then have a daughter named Tue Minh born in 2002 and a son named Nam Trung born in 2009.
Because Vinh undergoes training and attend competitions almost all the year round, his wife is supposed to play an extra role of a husband and a father in their family. She always supports her husband so that he devotes his whole life to sports.
"In rare meetings with my husband, I joked that Our kids and I have already got used to living without you. Now you come home, our daily life is in chaos," Giang told Xinhua. In fact, Vinh is very nice, whenever he gets his monthly salary, he gives all to his wife.
Vinh's 70-year-old mother-in-law, Nguyen Thi Mau, said: "Being as busy as a bee far away from home, Vinh frequently phones home. Whenever having free time, Vinh takes the whole facility to here and there for playing and relaxing," the old woman said, smiling warmly.
Vinh sometimes carries his wife on their motorbike along Hanoi's streets, just for sightseeing.
While her grandmother and mother were talking to their guests, Tue Minh walked to a cabinet full of medals in the center of the apartment. The teenager girl proudly introduced her father's achievements.
On Sunday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc sent a congratulatory letter to Vinh and the Vietnamese sports delegation to the 2016 Rio Olympics. The marksman will receive awards of at least 3 billion Vietnamese dong (135,000 U.S. dollars) in cash.
Vinh was born in 1974 in Ha Tay province (now merged with Hanoi). When Vinh was three years old, his mother, a worker, died of a serious illness. Vinh's step-mother loved him very much, but she also died prematurely due to cancer.
After leaving high school, Vinh voluntarily joined the army and studied at an engineers school and an army officer school.
Vinh is shortsighted, but his strong will makes him a marksman hailed by not only Vietnamese people but also international friends.
