Immigrating to Ireland from Vietnam at an early age, Nguyen and her family experienced hardships in the country.

Nguyen first competed at the European Junior & U23 Weightlifting Championships in 2015 as the first woman to represent Ireland at the competition.

After a break of eight years, she competed at the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships and lifted 98 kilograms in the clean and jerk, which earned the first medal ever for the nation with a bronze.

[7] The following year, Nguyen competed at the 2016 European Weightlifting Championships placing 21st in the women's 53 kg category.

[5] Through her brother's contacts, she got in touch with 2004 Olympian Mohamed Faizal Baharom who competed for Malaysia in January 2022 to help with her training.

[13] At the 2024 European Weightlifting Championships held in Sofia, Bulgaria, she lifted 74 kilograms in the snatch, placing sixth.

[14] After her bronze medal win at the championships, she announced on Instagram that she would be retiring after the nearing IWF World Cup held in Thailand in April, stating that she is "emotionally, mentally, physically, and financially exhausted" due to balancing her sporting career and her businesses, saying it would be her last Europeans for the national team to focus more on her other future endeavors.

She stated that she's "happy about retiring," saying that she hopes that other young lifters in Ireland will be encouraged about the sport.

[17] Nguyen is married to Mark Gough, a business owner, with whom she has two children named Lilly and Marc.