Reaching high: Duong Thi Viet Anh will be in the running for an Olympic ticket at the Asian All Star Athletic Meet at the weekend. — File Photo

HA NOI — Vietnamese track-and-field athletes left for Almaty, Kazakhstan yesterday on the hunt for Olympic berths at the Asian All Star Athletic Meet from June 30 to July 1.

It will be the last chance for them to secure tickets to London before the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) closes pre-Olympics competition on July 8.

The group of five Vietnamese competitors are Vu Thi Huong (women's 100m), Nguyen Thi Thuy (women's 400m), Truong Thanh Hang and Do Thi Thao (women's 800m) and Duong Thi Viet Anh (women's high jump). Some of the highest hopes are riding with Hang and Anh, as their results from recent competitions are close to B Standard set by the IAAF.

The Asian champion Hang must obtain a time of 2:01.30 in the 800m while Anh has to clear a bar of 1m92. The best achievement of Bac Lieu Province-born Anh is 1m90 set at last November's SEA Games in Indonesia, while Hang recently made it 2:01.41 in the Asian event last July in Japan.

Viet Nam also has a chance to receive a wildcard to join the coming Olympics, according to a recent announcement by the IAAF.

Accordingly, a Vietnamese male track-and-field athlete will be selected for the world's largest sporting event.

Walker Nguyen Thanh Ngung is the most promising candidate to receive the wildcard as his recent result of 1:27.57 at the Asian champs nearly reached the B Standard of 1:24.30.

However, if another Vietnamese athlete makes the Olympics, the wildcard will be cancelled.

Walker Nguyen Thanh Phuc is the only track and field representative from the Vietnamese athletics team at the Olympics.

So far, 18 Vietnamese athletes have got tickets to London, the highest number since Viet Nam joined the Games. — VNS