The National Athletics Championships 2021 will take place at My Dinh National Stadium (Hanoi), from December 5 to 13, 2021. The tournament features 50 events, of which 24 are exclusively for men, 24 are exclusively for women, and 2 are mixed relay events for men and women.
The host delegation Hanoi had the largest number of participants with 50 athletes.
According to the Organizing Committee, this year’s tournament will have 406 athletes participating, including 236 men and 170 women of 45 units. In addition, 141 coaches and members of the coaching staff registered for the tournament, bringing the total number of participants to 547.
Among these, the host delegation Hanoi had the largest number of participants: 50 athletes (30 men, 20 women), 15 coaches. Second is the Army delegation with 49 members, including 37 athletes (25 men, 12 women) and 12 coaches. The third place in terms of number is the Ho Chi Minh City delegation with 40 people, of which 28 athletes (17 men, 11 women) and 12 coaches.
In addition to a large number of participants, especially this year, Hanoi will have the return of “long jump queen”- Bui Thi Thu Thao, the reigning ASIAD 2018 champion, who was absent from the 30th SEA Games in the Philippines 2 years ago. At this year’s National Athletics Championships, in addition to the long jump, Bui Thi Thu Thao also tried the 3-step jump and relay race. Thao’s return will create changes for the delegation when this year, Hanoi lacks a fast runner, the main force is Nguyen Thi Oanh, who took a break from playing after the 2020 National Championship to get married and just had a baby for a few months.
At this year’s tournament, Hanoi has the return of “long jump queen” Bui Thi Thu Thao.
Due to the pandemic situation, this year’s tournament has some changes to match. Accordingly, the 20,000m race walk content will be played inside the stadium, instead of outside like last year. Weightlifting events will be played on the side yard of My Dinh National Sports Complex. The events of the hammer throw, frisbee throw, javelin throw are held inside the yard like other events.
In order for the tournament to take place safely, the Organizing Committee requires that athletes, organizers, caterers and spectators from pandemic areas must have had at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine for a full 14 days or more, or have recovered from Covid-19 within 6 months, or have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 virus within up to 72 hours before the tournament starts. This is a move to comply with the strict requirements on the prevention of the Covid-19 pandemic issued by the Hanoi People’s Committee.
The National Athletics Championships 2021 will take place to evaluate the training quality of localities and industries and select excellent athletes to focus on preparing for the 31st SEA Games and 19th ASIAD, which will take place in 2022.
Minh Tuan