Olympics

Đỗ Thị Ánh Nguyệt will be one of two Vietnamese flag bearer at the Paris Games. — Photo of World Archery

HÀ NỘI — Đỗ Thị Ánh Nguyệt and Lê Đức Phát will be Việt Nam's flag bearers at the Olympics Games Paris' opening ceremony.

It will be the first time that badminton player Phát has competed in the world's most important sporting event, which is being held from July 26 to August 11.

Phát who will complete in the men's singles, only earned his official place in the last moments after struggling for years to advance into the Paris ranks.

He is currently in an intensive training programme with Indonesian expert Hariawan Hong, who has worked in many different countries and whose most impressive achievement was taking the Thomas Cup 2022 trophy with the Indian team.

At Paris 2024, 172 athletes will compete in the badminton competition. The events of men’s and women's singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles will be contested across ten days of competition with five gold, silver, and bronze medals awarded. Matches will be held from July 27 to August 5 at the 8,000-seat Porte de la Chapelle Arena.

Lê Đức Phát has the honour of carrying the national flag at the Paris Olympics. — Photo nld.com.vn

Archer Nguyệt, meanwhile, will be enjoying her second Olympics, having first competed at the Games in Tokyo in 2021.

The 23-year-old thought her Paris Olympic dream had ended, after her unexpected results in qualification rounds. However, on June 26, World Archery announced that Nguyệt was one of five archers taking last Olympic spots based on their latest world rankings.

She will take part in the women's individual and mixed pair (with teammate Lê Quốc Phong) recurve events.

Currently, Nguyệt is practising in Hà Nội, under coach Park Chae Soon, who previously helped South Korea win 11 Olympic golds.

Archery is scheduled to run over a seven-day period, from July 25 to August 4, at Les Invalides. One hundred and twenty eight archers (64 for each gender) will compete across five events, with the mixed team recurve returning to the Olympic programme for the second time.

It will be the second Olympic Games which will see two flag bearers of each country at the opening ceremony parade.

Traditionally, each country selected one athlete to carry their nation’s flag during the lap of the stadium. However, the Tokyo Olympic Games was the first in history which had women as close to half of the flag bearers. As a result, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), for the first time, actively encouraged nations to select a male and a female representative to carry the flag.

Việt Nam will send 16 athletes to Paris, competing in 11 sports of athletics, cycling, swimming, shooting, weightlifting, canoeing, rowing, badminton, archery, boxing and judo.

Despite many difficulties and facing tough competition, Việt Nam hopes to win medals in weightlifting, shooting and boxing.

The Sports Authority of Việt Nam plans to hold a send-off ceremony for the Vietnamese delegation on July 17 in Hà Nội. They will join the Olympic Athlete Village on July 20.

In addition to athletes and coaches, a group of officials and staff will join the team to support them during competitions.

All competitors will be tested for doping at least once before leaving for Paris. They also have to complete a test while they are there and receive the Anti Doping Education and Learning certificate, a mandatory condition to join the Olympics. — VNS