Vietnam at the 2012 Summer Olympics
IOC code	VIE
NOC	Vietnam Olympic Committee
Website	voc.org.vn/en-us/home
inLondon
Competitors	18 in 11 sports
Flag bearer (opening)	Nguyễn Tiến Nhật
Flag bearer (closing)	Lê Huỳnh Châu
Medals Ranked 79th	Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 1 Total 1
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

Vietnam competed at the2012 Summer Olympics in London, from July 27 to August 12, 2012. This was the nation's eighth appearance at the Olympics, having missed the1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, because of theSoviet boycott.

TheVietnam Olympic Committee (VOC) sent the nation's largest delegation to the Games since1980. A total of 18 athletes, 6 men and 12 women, competed in 11 sports. For the first time in its Olympic history, Vietnam was represented by more female than male athletes. This was also the youngest delegation in Vietnam's Olympic history, with half under the age of 24, and many of them were expected to reach their peak in time for the2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Sixteen athletes competed in their first Olympics, including épée fencerNguyễn Tiến Nhật, who was the nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony.

Despite fielding its largest delegation to these games, Vietnam, however, failed to win a single medal. Pistol shooterHoàng Xuân Vinh and weightlifterTrần Lê Quốc Toàn narrowly missed out on Olympic medals in London, after finishing fourth in their respective sporting events.

In 2020, after the disqualification one athlete in a weightlifting men's 56 kg event, the bronze medal in this event was redistributed toTrần Lê Quốc Toàn.

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Bronze	Trần Lê Quốc Toàn	Weightlifting	Men's 56 kg	29 July

Vietnamese athletes who have so far achieved qualifying standards.

Key

• Note – Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
• Q = Qualified for the next round
• q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loseror, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
• NR = National record
• N/A = Round not applicable for the event
• Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

Women

Track & road events

Field events

Nguyễn Tiến Minh was Vietnam's only representative in badminton at the 2012 Olympics, competing in themen's singles event.^[1] According to theBadminton World Federation, he held a world ranking of 11th as of May 2012, which was well within the top-38 threshold required for a spot.^[1][2] This marked his second Olympic appearance, having previously competed at the2008 Beijing Games.^[1] Leading up to London, Minh trained at the competition venue, London'sWembley Arena, to adapt to the local weather and lighting conditions.^[3] At the tournament draw, Minh was named the 10th seed overall and listed in Group D.^[3][4] Adopting a new, resilient defensive style, his goal was to win his group and advance to at least the quarterfinals.^[3]

In his opening match on July 29, he defeatedYuhan Tan ofBelgium 2–1 (17–21, 21–14, 21–10),^[5] securing the first-ever Olympic match victory for a Vietnamese badminton player.^[6] Two days later, Minh was eliminated after his match againstIndia'sParupalli Kashyap, with a result of 0–2 (9–21, 14–21).^[7] Kashyap, who had been beaten by Minh at theSwiss Open months earlier, delivered a surprising and dominant performance.^[8] Minh conceded he was outplayed by his opponent's surprising speed and improvement.^[8][9] Despite his coach's belief that it was his last Olympics,^[8] Minh was selected to represent Vietnam again in 2016.^[10]

List of badminton events for Vietnamese competitors

Athlete	Event	Group Stage			Elimination	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final /BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Nguyễn Tiến Minh	Men's singles	Kashyap (IND) L 9–21, 14–21	Y Tan (BEL) W 17–21, 21–14, 21–10	2	Did not advance

Nguyễn Tiến Nhật made history as the first Vietnamese fencer to qualify for the Olympics.^[11][12] He secured the spot by reaching the final at the Asia–Oceania Zonal Qualifier inWakayama, Japan, in April 2012.^[13][14] His qualification was unexpected, as fencing was an obscure sport in Vietnam, and Nhật himself was a relative unknown.^[11][15] The fencer competed in themen's épée event on 1 August, where he was defeated 9–15 in his opening match byElmir Alimzhanov ofKazakhstan.^[11][16] This result placed him in the penultimate position in the final tournament, only ahead ofHong Kong'sLeung Ka Ming.^[17]

List of fencing events for Vietnamese competitors

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final /BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Nguyễn Tiến Nhật	Individual épée	Alimzhanov (KAZ) L 9–15	Did not advance

Vietnam has qualified three athletes

Men

Women

Văn Ngọc Tú became the first Vietnamese judoka to qualify for the Olympic Games, a distinction fromCao Ngọc Phương Trinh, who previously competed in the1996 Summer Olympics via awildcard entry.^[18] According to theInternational Judo Federation (IJF) ranking system, Tú was ranked 54th globally and second in Asia in the women's −48 kg category, behind onlyKazakhstan'sAlexandra Podryadova.^[18][19] However, due to the rule limiting each nation to one athlete per category, theKazakhstan Judo Federation decided to withdraw Podryadova, which ultimately secured the qualification spot for Tú.^[18] The judoka received significant investment in training trips to China and South Korea before participating in the 2012 Olympics.^[20]

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage	Final /BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Văn Ngọc Tú	Women's −48 kg	Menezes (BRA) L 0002–0021	Did not advance

Vietnam has qualified one boat.

Women

Qualification Legend:FA=Final A (medal);FB=Final B (non-medal);FC=Final C (non-medal);FD=Final D (non-medal);FE=Final E (non-medal);FF=Final F (non-medal);SA/B=Semifinals A/B;SC/D=Semifinals C/D;SE/F=Semifinals E/F;QF=Quarterfinals;R=Repechage

External videos
Shooting - 50m Pistol - Men's Final – London 2012 Olympic Games

Vietnam has qualified two athletes^[21]

Men

Women

Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên was the only Vietnamese swimmer named on theInternational Swimming Federation's (FINA) final qualification list in July 2012.^[22][23] She secured her spot by achieving four B standards at theSoutheast Asian Swimming Championships.^[23][24] At 16, Viên was the youngest Vietnamese athlete to compete at the Games, and the first swimmer from Vietnam to qualify outright, without relying on a wildcard entry.^[25][26] She competed in two events after training in the United States.^[23] In thewomen's 400m individual medley on 28 July, she won her heat with a time of 4:50.32 but did not qualify for the final,^[27][28] placing 28th out of 35 swimmers.^[29] On 2 August, she competed in thewomen's 200m backstroke as the only representative from Southeast Asia.^[30][31] She won her heat again with a time of 2:13.35, an improvement on her Olympic B standard time of 2:13.84.^[30][31] However, she could not advance to the semi-finals and finished 26th overall.^[32] Viên went on to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics.^[33]

Vietnam has qualified two athletes.^[34]

Athlete	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage	Bronze Medal	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Lê Huỳnh Châu	Men's −58 kg	Wei C-Y (TPE) L 1–5	Did not advance
Chu Hoàng Diệu Linh	Women's −67 kg	Fromm (GER) L 1–13PTG	Did not advance

External videos
Weightlifting – 56kg Men's Group A – London 2012 Olympic Games

Vietnam has qualified two athletes

Athlete	Event	Snatch		Clean & Jerk		Total	Rank
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Trần Lê Quốc Toàn	Men's −56 kg	125	6	159	2	284
Nguyễn Thị Thuý	Women's −53 kg	85	8	110	7	195	8

In April 2012,Nguyễn Thị Lụa became the first Vietnamese wrestler to ever qualify for the Olympic Games, securing her spot with a silver medal at the Asian Qualifiers inAstana, Kazakhstan.^[35][36] Lụa pushed through a shoulder injury from Kazakhstan to continue training for the London Games.^[37] However, her efforts were undermined by disorganized preparation.^[38] Promised training trips abroad were cancelled, leaving her to work with a North Korean coach who was ultimately barred from accompanying her to the competition.^[38] Lacking proper resources, she contended with inadequate equipment, managed a difficultweight cut alone while injured, and was denied her wish to attend the opening ceremony due to scheduling.^[38] Lụa was eliminated from thewomen's freestyle 48 kg competition on 8 August, losing her match toCanada'sCarol Huynh.^[39][34] The match ended in just 34 seconds when Huynhpinned Lụa for a 5–0 victory, resulting in a final ranking of 16th for Lụa.^[39][40] The wrestler was later included in the list of athletes competing in the2016 Summer Olympics.^[41]

List of wrestling events for Vietnamese competitors

Athlete	Event	Qualification	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Final /BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Nguyễn Thị Lụa	−48 kg	Bye	Huynh (CAN) L 0–5VT	Did not advance					16
"Bye" = Athlete not required to compete in round; "VT" =Victory by Fall

• Vietnam at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

• Vietnam at the 2012 Summer Olympics onVietnam Olympic Committee's website(in Vietnamese)
• Vietnam at the 2012 Summer OlympicsArchived 2013-01-03 atarchive.today

• 2012 in Vietnamese sport
• Nations at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• Vietnam at the Summer Olympics by year

• CS1 Vietnamese-language sources (vi)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with Vietnamese-language sources (vi)
• Webarchive template archiveis links