HANOI, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam, sending the biggest-ever Olympic athlete delegation to China this month, is determined to "overcome all difficulties and achieve best results with the spirit of unyieldingness and fair-play," a local sports official said here Friday.

    Vietnam's sports delegation to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games has 53 members, including 21 athletes in the nine sports of taekwondo, weightlifting, badminton, table tennis, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, athletics and wushu, Hoang Vinh Giang, Vice President of the Vietnam Olympic Committee and the delegation's head, said at the ceremony on the delegation departure.

    It is not easy for Vietnamese athletes to win medals at the planet's biggest sports event slated for Aug. 8-24 in Beijing with the participation of athletes from 205 countries and regions, he said, adding that Vietnam's sports delegation promises to show their best performance.

    Vietnam is pinning its medal hope on taekwondo and weightlifting at the Beijing Olympic Games, Giang said recently. He expected local taekwondo athletes to bag home bronze medals. Weightlifters Hoang Anh Tuan and Nguyen Thi Thiet also have chances for medals.

    Vietnam firstly attended the Olympic Games in 1980, and grabbed its first-ever Olympic medal, a silver one, in 2000 through woman taekwondo athlete Tran Hieu Ngan in the 57kg category.