Nguyen Thi Huong (first left) finishes second in the women’s C1 200m of the 2024 Asian Canoe Sprint Championships in Japan, claiming an Olympic spot for Vietnam. (Photo: Vietnam sport team)

Nguyen Thi Huong took silver in the women’s C1 200m of the 2024 Asian Canoe Sprint Championships that ended in Japan on April 21.

The multi-time SEA Games champion competed against rowers from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan (China).

She managed to finish second with a time of 49.351sec, leaving behind Mariya Brovkova of Kazakhstan in third place with a time of 49.423sec.

First place went to Nilufar Zokirova of Uzbekistan, clocking a time of 49.109 second.

In the women’s C1 200m category, only the gold and silver medalists are eligible for the 2024 Paris Olympics spots, meaning Nguyen Thi Huong of Vietnam and Nilufar Zokirova of Uzbekistan won the tickets.

The 2024 Asian Canoe Sprint Championships took place in Tokyo, Japan, from 18 to 21 April 2024, and served as the continental qualification for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Meanwhile, Pham Thi Hue grabbed another Olympic spot after coming in fifth place at the World Rowing Asian and Oceanian Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta in the Republic of Korea.

In the women’s singles scull, Hue competed against opponents from Singapore, the Philippines, Japan, Iran and Uzbekistan.

She finished fifth overall after athletes from Uzbekistan, Japan, Iran and the Philippines, but the result was just enough for her to qualify for the Paris Games.

So far, nine Vietnamese athletes have won tickets to the Olympic Games in Paris this summer. Seven spots were earlier claimed by cyclist Nguyen Thi That, shooters Trinh Thu Vinh and Le Thi Mong Tuyen, boxer Vo Thi Kim Anh, swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang, weightlifter Trinh Van Vinh, badminton player Nguyen Thuy Linh.