Wednesday, 3 February 2010

NOCC to hold 7km road run on June 18

Photo by: RANN REUY
Runners race during last year’s Angkor Wat Half Marathon

via CAAI News Media

Wednesday, 03 February 2010 15:00 Ung Chamroeun

THE National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) will organise a 7-kilometre road run in Kampong Cham province to jointly celebrate the anniversary of the Olympic Movement and the birthday of the Queen Mother on June 18.

Cambodia became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1961, but due to the Khmer Rouge regime and decades of civil unrest, could not compete in international sporting events from 1975 to 1995.

“We’ve organised public running races in different provinces for the last few years following the main principles of the Olympic movement,” said Vath Chamroeun, general secretary of NOCC. “We want also to draw the attention of the Cambodian people to sports events held in the spirit of the Olympics.”

The secretary stated that the NOCC has always celebrated the birthday of Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk, and expect between 500 and 1,000 people to participate in the run this year.

Last October, Olivier Niamkey and Farman Haider, from the IOC and the Olympic Council of Asia respectively, came on an official visit to Cambodia to learn about the development of NOCC.

They applauded the work of the organisation for sports development in the Kingdom, especially for increasing the number of domestic competitions, while noting that without sponsorship, nothing can be achieved.

According to Vath Chamroeun, the NOCC intend to hold their first ever national sports conference in the next few months, which will allow all related parties to exchange ideas and experiences to create the best possible future for sports in Cambodia.

No comments: