Introduction
Hoang Xuan Vinh is a Vietnamese sport shooter, best known as the first and only Vietnamese athlete to date to win an Olympic gold medal. He was born in Hanoi and has been associated with the sport of shooting.
Career
Before achieving his historic success, Hoang Xuan Vinh had not been particularly successful at regional shooting competitions. According to his coach Nguyen Thi Nhung, he was once considered a "scapegoat" for losing the 2012 Asian Games gold medal and the 2012 Olympic bronze medal on his final shots. To reach his historic achievement, the shooter went through many failures and decades of hard training. At times, to overcome his psychological weaknesses, he spent three hours a day staying motionless to cultivate calmness; in daily life, one of his fingers would habitually twitch as if pulling a trigger.
Rio 2016 Olympics
At the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil, on August 6, 2016, Hoang Xuan Vinh qualified for the final of the men's 10m air pistol event in fourth place. In the final, the two surprise contenders for the gold medal were host-nation shooter Felipe Almeida Wu and Hoang Xuan Vinh. In the last series, Felipe Wu briefly took the lead, but composure helped the Hanoi shooter win with a decisive 10.7-point shot. His final score of 202.5 points broke the Olympic record. This was the first Olympic gold medal for Vietnamese sports.
In addition, in the 50m pistol event, he also reached the final and won a silver medal with a score of 191.3 points.
When asked about his emotions while firing the historic shots, Hoang Xuan Vinh shared: "I always look toward the Fatherland and always believe that millions of Vietnamese people are supporting me and giving me strength. So in those moments of firing the final shots, I did not think of myself but always thought of the national flag; at that time, I could say the national spirit was within me, urging me to fight and to win. At that moment, I felt forged by the will of the Vietnamese people, so I just focused on performing as well as possible."
Milestones and Honors
With the historic gold medal, Hoang Xuan Vinh became a media focus, not only in Vietnam but also in many other places. He was later voted the 2016 Athlete of the Year of Vietnamese sports. For his contributions to the nation's sports, he was promoted to the rank of colonel in the Vietnam People's Army.