Until she showed her four-year-old daughter Lilly the medal she won at the European Weightlifting Championships in Armenia last month, Thammy Nguyen was feeling nothing but elation and pride. She had, after all, become the first Irish competitor to win a senior medal in the event.
But, as she told Cliona Foley recently, when Lilly examined the medal, she said: “Mammy, you got number three! You’re not the winner!”
So if Nguyen was hoping to bask in the glow of that bronze, she was brought back down to earth with a thud soon enough, with Lily’s message clear: try harder.
She’ll do just that because her dream now is to qualify for next year’s Olympic Games, preferably alongside her brother Nhat, the Irish number one in badminton who is aiming to compete in his second Olympics, having appeared in his first three years ago.
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It was the sight of Nhat entering the stadium in Tokyo with the Irish team for the opening ceremony that left his sister determined to pursue her own Olympic-qualifying ambitions, this at a point when she had not been involved in competitive weightlifting for five years.
Without funding, she had found it impossible to reach the heights she aspired to in her sport, so turned her focus to her entrepreneurial talents, launching her own clothing brand, opening two eyelash salons and, with her husband Mark Gough, opening a CrossFit gym.
Add in the birth of Lilly and Lilly’s younger brother Marc and, well, it was a busy five years. But the 26 year old was ready to throw herself back into her sport, the first serious step on that road was the hiring of Faizal Baharom as her coach – the Malaysian who represented his country at the 2004 Olympics, arriving in Ireland in January of last year to start work with her.
Having been the first woman weightlifter to represent Ireland at the world championships, back in 2015, Nguyen is no stranger to the standards she must reach if that Olympic dream is to be realised. But her showing in Armenia, when she became the first Irish woman to lift twice her own body weight en route to that bronze, has given her no small boost.
She’s in the world’s top 20 now, but needs to climb higher to make it to Paris. It won’t be easy, the competition will be stiffer again in September’s world championships in Saudi Arabia, but she’s up for the challenge. Lilly, you suspect, will keep her on her toes.
Previous monthly winners (the awards run from December 2022 to November 2023, inclusive)
December – Eilish and Roisin Flanagan (athletics): The combined efforts of the Tyrone twins, who finished in 11th and 12th place, helped Ireland to a bronze medal at the European Cross Country Championships in Italy, despite being without Fionnuala McCormack and Ciara Mageean.
January – Rhasidat Adeleke (athletics): The Tallaght runner has had a simply phenomenal start to the year – if we listed all the record-breaking feats, we’d be here till December. Taking over a second off the 21-year-old Irish indoor 400m mark, and then lowering it again, has been one of the many high points.
February – Orla Prendergast (cricket): The 20 year old was named in the T20 World Cup team of the tournament after impressing with both bat and ball for Ireland, the highlight was her innings of 61 against the West Indies. And she started a spell with English side Western Storm in style last month – she scored 115 on her debut.
March – Rachael Blackmore (horse racing): She’s produced her fair share of special days at Cheltenham over the past few years, but Blackmore riding Honeysuckle to victory at this year’s festival, in the mare’s final race, will live long in the memory.
