The Vietnamese Olympic Team touch down at Narita International Airport in Japan on July 19 to begin their journey at the Tokyo games.
The 43-strong contingent is led by Tran Duc Phan, deputy general director of the Vietnam Sports Administration. Among them are 18 athletes who will compete in 11 sports.
The organising board of the Olympics ensures that all members of the Vietnamese sporting delegation undergo COVID-19 testing at Narita International Airport.
Once every member tests negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the delegation are immediately taken to the athletes' village without undergoing any isolation period.
Each member of the Vietnamese team has been injected with the required two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with everyone tested twice within 72 hours prior to the departure.
18 athletes will compete across 11 different sports, of which weightlifting, shooting, and taekwondo seem to represent the nation’s best chance of winning a medal. At the 2016 Rio Olympics held in Brazil, Vietnam secured one gold and one silver medal for the first time in history thanks to efforts of marksman Hoang Xuan Vinh.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be held from July 23 to August 8, drawing the participation of 11,000 athletes from 206 countries and territories globally.
Posters to cheer the Vietnamese sporting delegation are hung on the streets of Kokubunji city, which has been designated as the host town of Vietnam during the Tokyo Olympics.