After the Asia and Oceania Continental Qualification Regatta in Chungju in April 2016, Vietnam has three qualified rowers in two categories for the 2016 Games: Phạm Thị Huệ in the women's single sculls category; Phạm Thị Thảo and Tạ Thanh Huyền in the women's lightweight double sculls. However, because each country can only pick a maximum of one category, only Thảo and Huyền were chosen to represent Vietnam at the 2016 Olympics. Less than a month before the 2016 Games, Thảo abruptly withdrew from the team due to her suffering from a vertebrae injury. Huyền ended up teaming with Hồ Thị Lý in the women's lightweight double sculls events at the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, starting with the 2000 m rowing regatta on 8 August. Huyền and Lý finished in the last place of the group, with a time of 7:29.91, despite being in the second place when they hit the first 500 m. The following day, the two went on to compete in the second group of competitors in the repechage, where they finished in fourth place with a time of 8:19.79, claiming their spots in the Semifinals C/D. In the semifinals on 11 August, they played in the first group of four and finished in third, only ahead of Yislena Hernández and Licet Hernández of Cuba, with a time of 8:18.47. The next day, Huyền and Lý were eligible for the finals in the Group C, competing for a spot between the 13th and 18th. The duo, however, chose to skip the competition after Huyền got a fever, finishing in 18th place on the final ranking.