Lam Dong Sports Festival concludes after nearly 10 months

The closing ceremony was held on the afternoon of September 14, with the participation of Da Cat Vinh, Member of the Lam Dong Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Council; Dinh Van Tuan, Member of the Lam Dong Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee; Ton Thien San, Member of the Lam Dong Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism; along with representatives of provincial departments, agencies, localities, organizations and sports delegations.

The festival brought together 47 participating units, including 20 local clusters and 27 departments, agencies, armed forces units, schools and businesses.

Athletes competed in 22 sports, including cross-country running, mountain climbing, cycling, pickleball, Chinese chess, table tennis, swimming, volleyball, traditional martial arts, football, badminton, karate, taekwondo, chess, Vovinam, billiards, futsal, athletics, crossbow and slingshot shooting, stick pushing and tug of war.

3,120 athlete entries across 22 sports

Of the 3,120 athlete entries, 2,104 were male, accounting for 67.4 percent, while 1,016 were female, or 32.6 percent.

Local clusters accounted for 2,335 athlete entries, while departments, agencies, armed forces units, schools and businesses contributed 785.

The competitions also provided an opportunity to identify a number of promising young athletes, particularly in cross-country running, athletics, martial arts and several sports in which Lam Dong has traditionally performed well.

The organizing committee awarded 998 medals, including 292 gold, 291 silver and 415 bronze medals.

Local clusters won 679 medals, while departments, agencies, armed forces units, schools and businesses won 319.

The Department of Education and Training's delegation topped the overall medal standings with 213 medals. Cluster 5 finished second with 96 medals, followed by Cluster 19 with 41.

At the closing ceremony, the sports delegations of the Department of Education and Training, Cluster 5 and Cluster 19 received Certificates of Merit from the Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee.

Duc Trong, Di Linh, Ham Thuan Nam and Tanh Linh were also recognized for outstanding achievements in organizing grassroots-level competitions and participating in the festival.

Building a stronger foundation for Lam Dong sports

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee Dinh Van Tuan said the first Lam Dong Sports Festival had completed all planned events and programs while ensuring safety, fairness and objectivity.

The festival also generated an enthusiastic atmosphere for sports and physical activity among people across the province.

Vice Chairman Dinh Van Tuan emphasized that this was the first provincial-level sports festival held following the administrative restructuring, taking place across Lam Dong's new development space.

With its large scale, large number of athletes and wide range of sports, the festival not only provided opportunities for physical exercise and competition but also helped expand grassroots sports activities among localities, agencies and organizations.

The festival also identified a number of promising young athletes, particularly in cross-country running, athletics, martial arts and several sports in which the province has strengths.

These athletes represent an important pool of talent for Lam Dong to select, train and develop for high-performance sports in the coming years.

Dinh Van Tuan called on the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to work with localities to review the organization of the festival, draw lessons from its implementation and continue reviewing, investing in and improving the province's sports facilities and institutions.

The goal is to create better conditions for residents to exercise regularly and improve their health.

Alongside the development of mass sports, the provincial sports sector was urged to focus on identifying athletes with strong potential and outstanding performances for specialized training and development.

The province aims to build a core high-performance sports team capable of competing at national-level events, particularly the 2026 National Sports Festival.

Vice Chairman Dinh Van Tuan also called for the continued integration of the “All People Exercise Their Bodies Following the Example of Great Uncle Ho” movement with the “All People Unite to Build a Cultural Life” movement.

The aim is to gradually improve the quality of sports activities and create stronger progress in both the scale and depth of the province's sports movement.