HCM City leaders awarded certificates of merit to coaches and disabled athletes for their outstanding achievements at the 2023 ASEAN Para Games at a meeting held in HCM City on June 27. — VNA/VNS Photo Tiến Lực

HCM CITY — The HCM City People's Committee has awarded certificates of merit to 67 coaches and disabled athletes for their outstanding achievements at the 2023 ASEAN Para Games which ended on June 9 in Cambodia.

Speaking at the awards meeting held on Tuesday (June 27), the municipal People's Committee vice chairman Dương Anh Đức expressed his pride and highly appreciated the achievements of the disabled athletes and coaches at the Games.

The Vietnamese disabled athletes brought home 66 gold medals, 58 silver medals and 77 bronze medals, ranking third in the medal tally after Indonesia and Thailand at the Games.

The disabled athletes from HCM City won 57 out of 66 gold medals, accounting for 86 percent of the total number of gold medals, along with 27 silvers and 44 bronzes.

This year’s achievements help the city authorities have more trust and motivation to invest more in developing sports for people with disabilities, Đức said.

“The city will always create favourable conditions to support disabled athletes and coaches to have the best conditions for training and competing,” he said

The athletes and coaches are expected to continue training and competing harder for national victories, he said.

One of the disabled athletes honoured at the meeting who won three Gold medals in athletics at the Games, Nguyễn Thị Hải, said sports bring great inspiration to her life and she has learned a lot from each tournament.

Each victory was the joy and pride of both the athletes and the people who had trusted and supported them over the years, she said.

With lofty goals for sports, the athletes always aim towards an equal, civilised and compassionate society for everyone, especially for people with disabilities.

“We are committed to constantly trying and working hard to inspire the next generation of Vietnamese youth, keeping patient and persistent in pursuing our dreams,” she said.

Nguyễn Nam Nhân, deputy director of the city’s Department of Culture and Sports, said the city's reward policy for athletes with disabilities is equivalent to that of athletes without a disability.

Accordingly, the city will offer rewards of up to VNĐ52 million (US$2,200) for male athletes, and VNĐ58 million ($2,450) for female athletes who win gold medals, VNĐ29 million ($1,225) for male athletes and VNĐ32 million ($1,350) for female athletes who win silver medals, and VNĐ23 million ($973) for male athletes and VNĐ25.5 million ($1,078) for female athletes who win bronze medals.

In addition, many sponsors also presented gifts, including cash, worth about VNĐ2.5 billion ($105,770) to winning athletes at the meeting.

The ASEAN Para Games is a biannual multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities from 11 countries in Southeast Asia.

The 2023 ASEAN Para Games, officially known as the ASEAN Para Games 12, was organised from June 3 to 9 in Phnom Penh.

The Vietnamese contingent gathered 164 members, including 125 athletes and two guides, 21 coaches and 16 officials and staff.

They competed in eight among 13 sports organised at the Games. The sports are athletics, swimming, powerlifting, badminton, table tennis, chess, judo and boccia. — VNS