Tham Nguyen

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Tham Nguyen Gough

| nickname = Thammy

| birth_name = Nguyễn Thẩm

| image = Tham Nguyen at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships training hall.webp

| image_size = 250px

| caption = Nguyen training in the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships training hall

| nationality = Irish

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1996|09|15}}

| birth_place = Vietnam

| alma_mater = Portobello Institute (BSc)

| height = 1.47 m

| weight = 49.00 kg

| country = Ireland

| sport = Weightlifting

| coach = Mohamed Faizal Baharom, Beata Jung

| event = 49 kg

| club =

| pb = {{unbulleted list|Snatch: 76 kg (2023, NR)|Clean and jerk: 98 kg (2023, NR)|Total: 173 kg (2023, NR)}}

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry|{{IRL}}}}

}}

Tham "Thammy" Nguyen Gough ({{née|Nguyen}}; {{IPAc-en|θj|æ|m|_|w|ɪ|n}}; {{Langx|vi|Nguyễn Thẩm}}, {{IPA|vi|ŋwiən˦ˀ˥˦ tʰaːm˧˩|}}; born 15 September 1996) is an Irish retired weightlifter who is known for being the first Irish weightlifter to win a senior medal at the European Weightlifting Championships.

Immigrating to Ireland from Vietnam at an early age, Nguyen and her family experienced hardships in the country. She moved to different towns before settling in Clarehall, where she then discovered Olympic weightlifting in a gym. She supported her weightlifting career financially through her businesses.

Nguyen first competed at the European Junior & U23 Weightlifting Championships in 2015 as the first woman to represent Ireland at the competition. She also became the first Irish woman ever to compete at the World Weightlifting Championships in that same year. After a break of eight years, she competed at the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships and lifted 98 kilograms in the clean and jerk, which earned the first medal ever for the nation with a bronze. She earned the first total medal for the nation at the following European Championship. She retired in April 2024 after narrowly failing to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Nguyễn Thẩm was born on 15 September 1996{{cite web |date=12 January 2024 |title=2024 Senior European Championships Final Entry List |url=https://ewf.sport/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/BW-2024-Sofia.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250211205726/https://ewf.sport/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/BW-2024-Sofia.pdf |archive-date=11 February 2025 |accessdate=17 February 2024 |work=European Weightlifting Federation |page=2 |url-status=live}} in Vietnam to Lai and Thuy Nguyen. She, her parents, and her brother Nhat immigrated to Ireland in 2003, when she was six years old. She and her father arrived first, and her brother and mother followed the next year. They lived in Belturbet, then Santry, before settling in Clarehall.{{cite web|title=Young Dublin businesswoman pursues Olympic dream |url=https://www.fm104.ie/news/sport/young-dublin-businesswoman-pursues-olympic-dream/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424003236/https://www.fm104.ie/news/sport/young-dublin-businesswoman-pursues-olympic-dream |archive-date=24 April 2023 |work=FM104 |last1=Nolan |first1=Hazel |date=22 April 2023 |accessdate=10 September 2023 |url-status=live }} She said that life was hard and that sometimes her family could not afford food.{{cite web|title=Meet the 21-year-old Irish woman who went from being unable to afford food to owning a booming beauty business |url=https://www.independent.ie/style/beauty/makeup/meet-the-21-year-old-irish-woman-who-went-from-being-unable-to-afford-food-to-owning-a-booming-beauty-business/36158419.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213044424/https://www.independent.ie/style/beauty/makeup/meet-the-21-year-old-irish-woman-who-went-from-being-unable-to-afford-food-to-owning-a-booming-beauty-business/36158419.html |archive-date=13 February 2024 |url-status=live |work=Independent.ie |last1=Mulvaney |first1=Amy |date=24 September 2017 |accessdate=10 September 2023 }}

Nguyen's father's interest in sports influenced Nguyen and her brother to pursue athletic careers. She was active growing up, and pursued Irish dancing. Her parents opened a Chinese takeaway in 2012 to support the family, and Nguyen and her brother manage it from time to time. She started going to the gym at sixteen years of age, and after speaking to a young woman who participated in CrossFit, she joined a CrossFit gym. She was persuaded to try weightlifting by a gym coach who saw her performance.{{cite web|title=Thammy Nguyen – "Put The Hard Work In And Go Achieve Your Goal Because Nobody Else Is Going To Achieve It For You." |url=https://www.hersport.ie/weightlifting-sports/thammy-nguyen-put-the-hard-work-in-and-go-achieve-your-goal-because-nobody-else-is-going-to-achieve-it-for-you-46695 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250115033031/https://www.hersport.ie/weightlifting-sports/thammy-nguyen-put-the-hard-work-in-and-go-achieve-your-goal-because-nobody-else-is-going-to-achieve-it-for-you-46695 |archive-date=15 January 2025 |last=Gardiner |first1=Jessica |work=Her Sport |date=26 May 2023 |accessdate=10 September 2023 |url-status=live}}

Career

=2015–2016=

After her first competition, she qualified for the 2015 European Junior & U23 Weightlifting Championships competing in the women's 53 kg category being the first woman to represent Ireland at the competition. She finished eighth overall.{{cite web|title=2015 European Junior Weightlifting Championships Results |url=https://iwf.sport/results/results-by-events/results-by-events-old-bw/?event_id=336 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602125531/https://iwf.sport/results/results-by-events/results-by-events-old-bw/?event_id=336 |archive-date=2 June 2022 |work=International Weightlifting Federation |accessdate=10 September 2023 |url-status=live}} The same year, she competed at the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships{{Snd}}being the first Irish female weightlifter to compete at the World Weightlifting Championships.{{cite web|title=This teen will today become the first Irish female to compete at the weightlifting World Championships |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213044424/https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/arid-20365976.html |archive-date=13 February 2024 |url-status=live |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/arid-20365976.html |last1=Oliver |first1=Brian |work=Irish Examiner |date=20 November 2015 |accessdate=10 September 2023 }} She placed 35th in the women's 48 kg category.{{cite web|title=2015 World Weightlifting Championships Results |url=https://iwf.sport/results/results-by-events/results-by-events-old-bw/?event_id=341 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314061332/https://iwf.sport/results/results-by-events/results-by-events-old-bw/?event_id=341 |archive-date=14 March 2024 |url-status=live |work=International Weightlifting Federation |accessdate=10 September 2023 }}

The following year, Nguyen competed at the 2016 European Weightlifting Championships placing 21st in the women's 53 kg category.{{cite web|title=2016 European Weightlifting Championships Results Book |url=https://ewf.sport/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Europe-Senior-Championships-2016-RESULTS_BOOK_FORDE.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605175419/https://ewf.sport/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Europe-Senior-Championships-2016-RESULTS_BOOK_FORDE.pdf |archive-date=5 June 2024 |url-status=live |work=European Weightlifting Federation |date=16 April 2023 |accessdate=10 September 2023 }} She then competed at the 2016 Junior World Weightlifting Championships, where she placed 15th in the same category.{{cite web|title=2016 Junior World Weightlifting Championships Results |url=https://iwf.sport/results/results-by-events/results-by-events-old-bw/?event_id=361 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212002237/https://iwf.sport/results/results-by-events/results-by-events-old-bw/?event_id=361 |archive-date=12 December 2024 |url-status=live |work=International Weightlifting Federation |accessdate=10 September 2023 }}

File:Tham Nguyen at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships.webp, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.]]

=2022–2023=

After seeing her brother, Nhat, at the 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Tokyo, Japan, she said she "remembered the goal she set for herself many years ago", saying she felt disheartened when she did not achieve the goal. After remembering the goal she set, she went back to training. Through her brother's contacts, she got in touch with 2004 Olympian Mohamed Faizal Baharom who competed for Malaysia in January 2022 to help with her training. She brought him to Dublin and praised him for her steady improvement in the sport from his coaching.{{cite web |last1=Gallagher |first1=Mark |title=Meet the siblings dreaming of representing Ireland together at the Paris Olympics |url=https://extra.ie/2023/04/29/sport/sport-extra/ireland-paris-olympics-nguyen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240413212319/https://extra.ie/2023/04/29/sport/sport-extra/ireland-paris-olympics-nguyen |archive-date=13 April 2024 |url-status=live |work=Extra.ie |accessdate=17 February 2024 |date=29 April 2023 }} She also trains with Beata Jung, the coach of the Irish national team.

Her first competition in six years was the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships, she placed 20th. She snatched 73 kg, and clean and jerked 93 kg for a 166 kg total.{{cite web|title=2022 World Weightlifting Championships Results |url=https://iwf.sport/results/results-by-events/?event_id=562 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217112755/https://iwf.sport/results/results-by-events/?event_id=562 |archive-date=17 December 2024 |url-status=live |work=International Weightlifting Federation |accessdate=10 September 2023 }} The following year, she competed at the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships, snatching a competition best of 75 kg and clean and jerking another competition best of 98 kg becoming the first Irish weightlifter to win a senior European Weightlifting Championships medal, a bronze, and becoming the first Irish female weightlifter to lift twice her own weight. She finished ninth overall in the women's 49 kg category.{{cite web|title=Tham Nguyen Never Give Up On Your Dreams |url=https://olympics.ie/tham-nguyen-never-give-up-on-your-dreams/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212000143/https://olympics.ie/tham-nguyen-never-give-up-on-your-dreams/ |archive-date=12 December 2024 |url-status=live |last=Jackson |first1=Kieran |work=Olympic Federation of Ireland |date=26 April 2023 |accessdate=10 September 2023 }} She then competed at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships, competing in the same category, snatching 76 kg, a new national record, and clean and jerking 96 kg, with a 172 kg total placing 19th.{{cite web|title=It’s boom time for weightlifting in Ireland as country sends team of six to World Championships |url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1140507/ireland-team-of-six-weightlifting-worlds |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240618033534/https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1140507/ireland-team-of-six-weightlifting-worlds |archive-date=18 June 2024 |last1=Oliver |first1=Brian |work=Inside The Games |date=4 September 2023 |accessdate=10 September 2023 }}

=2024=

At the 2024 European Weightlifting Championships held in Sofia, Bulgaria, she lifted 74 kilograms in the snatch, placing sixth. She then clean and jerked 95 kilograms, earning a total of 169 kilograms, earning bronze for both lifts and earning the first total medal for the nation.{{cite web|title=Sofia 2024 Day 1: Cambei and Bektas defend their European titles |url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1143739/sofia-day-1-bektas-cambei-defend-titles |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240418173314/https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1143739/sofia-day-1-bektas-cambei-defend-titles |archive-date=18 April 2024 |url-status=live |last1=Khalatyan |first1=Rachel |work=Inside The Games |date=13 February 2024 |accessdate=18 February 2024 }} After her bronze medal win at the championships, she announced on Instagram that she would be retiring after the nearing IWF World Cup held in Thailand in April, stating that she is "emotionally, mentally, physically, and financially exhausted" due to balancing her sporting career and her businesses, saying it would be her last Europeans for the national team to focus more on her other future endeavors.{{cite web|title=The Heartwarming Promise Irish Weightlifter Thammy Nguyen Made To Her Kids Before The European Championships |url=https://www.hersport.ie/weightlifting-sports/the-heartwarming-promise-irish-weightlifter-thammy-nguyen-made-to-her-kids-at-the-european-championships-51303 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217170813/https://www.hersport.ie/weightlifting-sports/the-heartwarming-promise-irish-weightlifter-thammy-nguyen-made-to-her-kids-at-the-european-championships-51303 |archive-date=17 February 2024 |last1=Cunnane |first1=Alanna |work=Her Sport |date=14 February 2024 |accessdate=18 February 2024 }}

Two months later, she competed at the 2024 IWF World Cup held in Phuket, Thailand. She lifted 70 kilograms in the snatch and clean and jerked 96 kilograms for a total of 166 kilograms. After the competition, she retired from professional weightlifting to focus on her children. She stated that she's "happy about retiring," saying that she hopes that other young lifters in Ireland will be encouraged about the sport.{{cite web|url=https://iwf.sport/2024/03/31/phuket-day-1-dika-toua-rescues-hopes-of-sixth-olympics-tokyo-medallist-out-of-paris-and-three-more-world-records-for-prk/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212162839/https://iwf.sport/2024/03/31/phuket-day-1-dika-toua-rescues-hopes-of-sixth-olympics-tokyo-medallist-out-of-paris-and-three-more-world-records-for-prk/ |archive-date=12 December 2024 |url-status=live |title=Phuket, Day 1: Dika Toua rescues hopes of sixth Olympics, Tokyo medallist out of Paris – and three more world records for PRK |date=31 March 2024 |access-date=1 April 2024 |first1=Brian |last1=Oliver |work=International Weightlifting Federation}}

Major results

width=40\|1 ! width=40\|2 ! width=40\|3 ! width=40\|Rank ! width=40\|1 ! width=40\|2 ! width=40\|3 ! width=40\|Rank
class = "wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! rowspan=2 width=40\|Year ! rowspan=2 width=250\|Venue ! rowspan=2 width=60\|Weight !colspan=4\| Snatch (kg) !colspan=4\| Clean & Jerk (kg) !rowspan=2 width=40\| Total !rowspan=2 width=40\| Rank
colspan=13 \| Representing {{flagicon\|IRL}} Ireland
colspan=13 \| World Championships
2015	align=left \| {{flagicon\|USA}} Houston, United States	48 kg	54	54	57	36	72	73	76	36	130	35
2022	align=left \| {{flagicon\|COL}} Bogotá, Colombia	49 kg	73	75	75	24	93	93	95	23	166	20
2023	align=left \| {{flagicon\|KSA}} Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	49 kg	74	74	76	19	96	98	~~100~~	21	172	19
colspan=13 \| European Championships
2016	align=left \| {{flagicon\|NOR}} Førde, Norway	53 kg	60	62	62	23	72	75	75	22	132	21
2023	align=left \| {{flagicon\|ARM}} Yerevan, Armenia	49 kg	73	75	77	6	96	98	98	{{bronze3}}	173	5
2024	align=left \| {{flagicon\|BUL}} Sofia, Bulgaria	49 kg	74	74	74	6	95	95	97	{{bronze03}}	169	{{bronze03}}
colspan=13 \| Junior World Championships
2016	align=left \| {{flagicon\|GEO}} Tbilisi, Georgia	53 kg	61	64	66	15	75	78	82	14	148	15
colspan=13 \| European Junior Championships
2015	align=left \| {{flagicon\|LTU}} Klaipėda, Lithuania	53 kg	54	57	57	8	72	75	75	8	132	8

Personal life

Nguyen has a brother named Nhat Nguyen who is an international badminton player who competed at the Summer Olympics representing Ireland.

Nguyen is married to Mark Gough, a business owner, with whom she has two children named Lilly and Marc. After her marriage, she adopted the name Tham Nguyen Gough, being nicknamed Thammy.{{cite web|title=Irish athlete's inspiring journey to the Olympics |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0713/1234631-badminton-olympics-nhat-nguyen/ |last=Mannion |first1=Eleanor |work=Raidió Teilifís Éireann |date=13 July 2021 |accessdate=10 September 2023 }} She owns and operates two salons and a clothing brand to support her weightlifting career. She and her husband have opened up a CrossFit gym in Baldoyle.

References

External links

{{IWF|12663}}
[https://games.crossfit.com/athlete/476276 Tham Nguyen] at CrossFit

Category:1996 births

Category:Irish female weightlifters

Category:Sportspeople from Dublin (city)

Category:21st-century Irish sportswomen

Category:European Weightlifting Championships medalists

Category:Vietnamese emigrants

Category:Immigrants to Ireland

Category:Naturalised citizens of Ireland

Category:Naturalised sports competitors

Category:Irish people of Vietnamese descent

Category:Sportspeople of Vietnamese descent

Category:Sports businesswomen

Category:Living people