Golden girl: Nguyen Thi Huyen celebrates after winning a gold medal at the Asian Grand Prix Athletics's women's 400m in Thailand. — VNS Photo Tuan Tu

HA NOI (VNS) — Nguyen Thi Huyen of Viet Nam won gold at the Asian Grand Prix Athletics at Thammasat University Sports Complex near Bangkok, Thailand.

Huyen triumphed in her preferred event, the women's 400m. She finished with a time of 52.27sec.

During the first leg of the tournament, four days ago, she wasn't looking so strong, finishing in fifth position.

Yuliya Rakhmanova of Kazakhstan topped the first leg of the event, followed by Huyen's teammate, Quach Thi Lan, running a solid 53.26s. For the second leg, Quach Thi Lan came in fourth despite a better time of 52.75s.

According to the head coach of the Viet Nam Team, Duong Duc Thuy, Huyen ran badly in the first leg because of food poisoning but she came back and found her form yesterday.

It is Huyen's first Asian title and the first gold for Viet Nam in the women's 400m event.

Earlier, she pocketed a berth for the Brazil Olympics after an outstanding performance at the recent Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.

Elsewhere in track, Tran Hue Hoa took silver in the women's triple jump with a result of 13.75m.

According to coach Nguyen Nam Nhan, Hoa's result was pretty good as it closely trailed the first place result.

Hoa, however, will have to work harder to beat a bar of 14.20m to qualify for the Olympic Games next year.

Vietnamese athletes competed in the men's 100m, 400m, 800m and women's 800m but failed to place.

The third and final leg will start June 29 in Chantaburi Province.

The Grand Prix offers a total of US$50,000 to the winners. — VNS