The Vietnam Olympic Committee (VOC) sent the nation's largest delegation to the Games since 1980. 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 the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Sixteen athletes competed in their first Olympics, including épée fencer Nguyễn 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 shooter Hoàng Xuân Vinh and weightlifter Trần 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 56kg event, the bronze medal in this event was redistributed to Trần Lê Quốc Toàn.
Nguyễn Tiến Minh (pictured in 2011) scored the first winning match for a Vietnamese badminton player at the Olympics
Nguyễn Tiến Minh was Vietnam's only representative in badminton at the 2012 Olympics, competing in the men's singles event.[1] According to the Badminton 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 the 2008 Beijing Games.[1] Leading up to London, Minh trained at the competition venue, London's Wembley 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 defeated Yuhan Tan of Belgium 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 against India's Parupalli Kashyap, with a result of 0–2 (9–21, 14–21).[7] Kashyap, who had been beaten by Minh at the Swiss 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
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 in Wakayama, 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 the men's épée event on 1 August, where he was defeated 9–15 in his opening match by Elmir Alimzhanov of Kazakhstan.[11][16] This result placed him in the penultimate position in the final tournament, only ahead of Hong Kong's Leung Ka Ming.[17]
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
At 16, Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên (pictured in 2014) was the youngest Vietnamese athlete to ever compete at the Olympics
Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên was the only Vietnamese swimmer named on the International Swimming Federation's (FINA) final qualification list in July 2012.[19][20] She secured her spot by achieving four B standards at the Southeast Asian Swimming Championships.[20][21] 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.[22][23] She competed in two events after training in the United States.[20] In the women'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,[24][25] placing 28th out of 35 swimmers.[26] On 2 August, she competed in the women's 200m backstroke as the only representative from Southeast Asia.[27][28] She won her heat again with a time of 2:13.35, an improvement on her Olympic B standard time of 2:13.84.[27][28] However, she could not advance to the semi-finals and finished 26th overall.[29] Viên went on to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[30]
List of swimming events for Vietnamese competitors
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 in Astana, Kazakhstan.[32][33] Lụa pushed through a shoulder injury from Kazakhstan to continue training for the London Games.[34] However, her efforts were undermined by disorganized preparation.[35] 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.[35] Lacking proper resources, she contended with inadequate equipment, managed a difficult weight cut alone while injured, and was denied her wish to attend the opening ceremony due to scheduling.[35] Lụa was eliminated from the women's freestyle 48 kg competition on 8 August, losing her match to Canada's Carol Huynh.[36][31] The match ended in just 34 seconds when Huynh pinned Lụa for a 5–0 victory, resulting in a final ranking of 16th for Lụa.[36][37] The wrestler was later included in the list of athletes competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics.[38]
List of wrestling events for Vietnamese competitors
↑ Hoàng Hà (23 July 2012). "Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên – Niềm hy vọng trên 'đường đua xanh'"[Nguyen Thi Anh Vien – Hope on the 'green racetrack'] (in Vietnamese). The Government of the Socialist Republic Of Vietnam. Archived from the original on 3 September 2025. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
Vietnam did not participate in 1984 due to a boycott.
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