Ministry of National Defense opens National Defense Sports Festival 2024

( Bqp.vn ) - On the morning of October 1, in Hanoi, the Ministry of National Defense held the opening ceremony of the 2024 National Defense Sports Festival. Lieutenant General Thai Van Minh, Director of the Department of Military Training (General Staff), Deputy Head of the Organizing Committee of the Sports Festival attended and delivered the opening speech. Attending the opening ceremony were Lieutenant General Pham Quang Ngan, Director of the Department of Militia and Self-Defense (General Staff); Mr. Dang Ha Viet, Director General of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism); representatives of leaders and commanders of agencies and units of the Ministry of National Defense, the General Staff, along with coaches, athletes, and referees participating in the sports festival.

Delegates attending the opening ceremony.

The 2024 National Defense Sports Festival attracted 2,688 coaches and athletes from 43 agencies and units across the army to compete in 12 events. The festival will take place over 14 days (from September 28 to October 11, 2024) at 04 locations: National Military Training Center 4, Special Forces Officer School, Political Officer School and Army Officer School 1. The regular force competes in 09 events: Volleyball, Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis, Unarmed Combat, Strong Soldier, Armed Swimming, Overcoming Obstacles, 3000m Armed Run to Overcome Obstacles. The militia and self-defense force competes in 03 events: Combined Military Triathlon, Armed Swimming, Combat Martial Arts.

Some pictures of the team review at the opening ceremony.

The 2024 National Defense Sports Festival is a practical activity to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam People's Army (December 22, 1944 - December 22, 2024) and the 35th anniversary of National Defense Day (December 22, 1989 - December 22, 2024); at the same time, promoting and creating a strong development step in the movement of physical training and sports in the Army and militia and self-defense forces, with the goal of "Healthy to build and protect the Fatherland".

Lieutenant General Thai Van Minh delivered the opening speech at the sports festival.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Lieutenant General Thai Van Minh emphasized that the 2024 National Defense Sports Festival is a practical activity to promote the movement of physical training and sports of units in the Army and militia and self-defense forces, contributing to improving the quality of training and combat readiness in units and localities. Through the sports festival, the quality of physical training and sports activities in the Army and militia and self-defense forces of localities is properly assessed, thereby drawing valuable experiences for physical training, strengthening training, practice, improving the level of organizing physical training and sports competitions for cadres at all levels, meeting the requirements of building a revolutionary, disciplined, elite, and gradually modern Army.

Scene of the opening ceremony of the sports festival.

The 2024 National Defense Sports Festival is also an opportunity for agencies and units to discover and select outstanding athletes to supplement the Army's high-performance sports force, ready to participate in national defense military sports activities at home, regionally and internationally.

Lieutenant General Thai Van Minh presented the Souvenir Flag to the units participating in the sports festival.

For the sports festival to be a success, Lieutenant General Thai Van Minh requested the Organizing Committee and the hosting units to closely coordinate with relevant agencies and units to do well all preparations; operate the sports festival according to plan; strictly maintain military discipline, and ensure absolute safety. The referee force should uphold the sense of responsibility, organize the competition closely, evaluate the achievements and results objectively, honestly, and accurately. The agencies and units participating in the sports festival should thoroughly grasp and strictly comply with the discipline and regulations of the Organizing Committee, and direct the athletes to compete with determination to achieve the highest results.

Volleyball match between the General Staff team and the Military Region 2 team.

Immediately after the opening ceremony, a volleyball match took place between the General Staff team and the Military Region 2 team.

Duc Anh

Source: https://mod.gov.vn/home/detail?current=true&urile=wcm:path:/mod/sa-mod-site/sa-ttsk/sa-tt-qpan/bo-quoc-phong-khai-mac-hoi-thao-the-thao-quoc-phong-nam-2024