HÀ NỘI — Chu Thị Thanh Hà has been named the first president of the Việt Nam Skating Federation.

Hà is chairwoman of the board of directors of FPT Telecom JSC and also head of the campaign board to establish the federation due to the development of the sport in the country and the necessity of a national governing body.

Following a meeting on Saturday in Hà Nội, Hà will take charge of the new-born federation and will be assisted by 18 members including three deputy presidents.

At the meeting, Trịnh Thị Trang was voted general secretary with Lê Quân as her deputy.

"In this new position I promise to try my best to push the development of skating and make it more popular among Vietnamese people," Hà said.

The federation has set targets for the Asian Winter Games in 2021, the Winter Olympics in 2022 and other international and regional competitions.

Skating is a new sport in the country with only three national tournaments organised since 2015. From the first professional skating rink in Hà Nội in 2013, there are currently seven in six cities and provinces nationwide.

Many schools such as Vinschool and BVIS and English language centres include skating as one of their regular extracurricular activities.

Addressing the meeting, deputy head of the Việt Nam Sports Administration Lê Thị Hoàng Yến, said: "The establishment of the federation proves how skating is spreading across the country thanks to the efforts and contributions of coaches and athletes. Skating is a hard sport which enquires a big investment in terms of time and money. I hope that the federation and its leaders will push skating to a new high to gain access to the world."

"We have been working hard for several years and taken part in competitions but our results were not recognised because Việt Nam did not have a federation. I hope that under the new body we will enjoy training courses locally and internationally. Experienced coaches will be invited to help us," said 14-year-old Khánh Linh, the leading skater in Việt Nam. — VNS