Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam athletes aim toachieve from 2-5 gold medals at the upcoming 19th Asian Games (ASIAD 19)in Hangzhou, China, said Director of the Vietnam Sports Administration Dang Ha Viet, who is also head of the Vietnamese sports delegation.
Viet said after a period of activeand serious preparations, the Vietnamese delegation is confident and readyto attend ASIAD 19 with the highest determination.
Since the beginning of theyear, the administration has coordinated with relevant authorised units to soonselect athletes to join the national teams. Among them, there are athletes whocompeted successfully and obtained high achievements at the recent SEA Games32, especially in Olympic and ASIAD sports groups, according to the official.
The results at SEA Games 32 are an important foundation,creating a driving force to help athletes continue to maintain and furtherpromote their professional skills in this continental arena. The sector has sentexcellent athletes to train abroad and compete in domestic and internationaltournaments to improve professional skills.
Each member of the delegation attending ASIAD 19 has the desire to achieve the best results and efforts to contribute to strengthensolidarity, friendship, cooperation and development with countries in thecontinent, he added.
Viet said that the Vietnamese athletes will haveto compete with strong opponents from leading countries in the continent suchas Japan, the Republic of Korea or the host China at the Games. Vietnam hasjust achieved good results and affirmed its position in Southeast Asia, howeverthere are still gaps in Olympic sport groups at ASIAD.
In addition to key sports, Vietnam will also compete in new sports such as E-Sports, Soft tennis and Breaking, among others. The athleteshope to contribute to Asian sports, thereby promoting other Vietnamese sportslike Vovinam, he said.
It can be said that ASIAD 18, held in Indonesia in2018, has been the most successful Games of Vietnamese sports to date with five gold medals in women's rowing, athletics, women’s long jump, men's pencak silat, and women’s400m hurdles. But most of these sports will not be included in ASIAD 19.
Regarding to anti-doping work, Viet said that it is themost important issue that the sector has always paid special attention to. Trainingcourses on anti-doping for athletes have been opened in 63 provinces and cities.
According to the regulations of the 19th ASIAD OrganisingCommittee, all athletes must have an ADEL (anti-doping education and learningplatform) certificate issued by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to attendthe Games. This is the latest regulation and will be applied not only fromASIAD 19 but also at all multi-sport events at continental and world levels inthe future./.