PHNOM PENH: On Sunday, 2 October, around 1,000 people ran to celebrate the 41st OCA General Assembly in Cambodia, as well as the journey to the upcoming 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
According to the Cambodia 2023 website, on Sunday morning, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), in collaboration with the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC), organized the OCA Fun Run in Chroy Changvar district with about 1,000 runners participating, in order to celebrate the 41st OCA General Assembly in Cambodia, as well as the road to the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
The event was attended by the NOCC Secretary-General and CAMSOC Secretary-General, Vath Chamroeun, and a senior OCA official representing the 19th Asian Games Organizing Committee in Hangzhou, as well as a delegation from the National Committee who attended the General Assembly.
According to Secretary-General Vath Chamroeun, this event was aimed at understanding the organization of the OCA Fun Run, with Cambodia hosting the OCA General Assembly, as well as taking a hands-on approach to learning in the road to hosting the 2023 SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games. In this sense, he said it is an opportunity to train in communication, hospitality, accommodation, and other events.
"We are training for the Fun Run, which means we have benefited a lot from the technical work of the exchange and the experience of the international teams participating in this event," he said.
"This is what we want professionally, but more importantly, it is not easy, we can address some difficulties, but we get a certain reputation as host. Our reputation is that we must maintain our national honor in organizing this event."
In response, Xu Jianfeng, the Head of the Foreign Relations Department of the 19th Asian Games Organizing Committee, thanked Cambodia for hosting the OCA General Assembly and organizing this fun run, which acts as an opportunity to present and promote the preparation of the 19th Asian Games to all Asian countries and delegates attending the GA in Cambodia.
"I hope that this Fun Run will play an important role in promoting the Asian Games in Hangzhou to the masses, especially the Cambodian people so that they know more about what Asian sports are and how many sports and disciplines there are," he said. "In the context of Covid-19, it is very difficult to organize such a Fun Run to promote our Asian Games. Once again, I would like to thank the NOCC for hosting the OCA General Assembly and the Fun Run."
He also stressed that "Cambodia has shown its strength in preparing for this big meeting and is also a good partner to host the 2023 SEA Games."
"On behalf of the Asian Olympic Council, I would like to thank the NOCC and the Royal Government of Cambodia for their attention, and we hope that the next meeting will be fruitful and that Cambodia will have a name in Asia," he said.