Rising Together Baton Run Held In Hanoi

KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 (Bernama) -- Light rainfall did not dampen the spirit of participants in the Rising Together Baton Run held in Hanoi Sunday. Unlike the baton runs held in the five previous destinations, the Olympic Council of Vietnam used the approach of running around the Hoan Kiem lake, covering a distance of 2.8 kilometres with three stops, starting and finishing before the statue of Emperor Ly Thai To, founder of the city of Hanoi, at the park after his name. Deputy Youth and Sports Minister M. Saravanan said the run organised in Vietnam was the best in the series so far which is being held in conjunction with the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games to be held in August and September this year. "I was very excited by the presence of local residents with high spirit today, and after having this event in Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, Vietnam was the best organiser. "The organisers of Kuala Lumpur 2017 came up with the idea of having the Risign Together Baton Run to give a chance to ASEAN citizens to feel the excitement of the 2017 SEA Games which will take place in Kuala Lumpur...that you are also invited to Kuala Lumpur to attend KL 2017," he said in a press release published on the Games' official website, www.kualalumpur2017.com, Sunday. As a symbolic gesture to begin the run, Saravanan handed over the baton to Vietnam's Culture, Sports and Tourism Deputy Minister Le Khanh Hai. Le Khanh Hai then handed the baton to the first runner, Hoang Xuan Vinh, Vietnam's 2016 Rio Olympic gold medallist in the 10m air pistol event. Beginning at the Ly Thai To Park, Xuan Vinh, accompanied by a convoy of 24 Harley Davidson bikers, ran for about 1.2km with another 100 runners to the next stop - the office of the Hanoi Moi news agency. Then, Vu Thanh An, Vietnam's flag bearer at the Rio Olympics continued with the baton for another kilometre to the next stop at the Hanoi Opera House. Waiting at the third stop was gold medallist in the Paralympic powerlifting event in Rio for the men's under 49kg category, Le Van Congg, who ran the final 600m of the course to complete the event at the Ly Thai To Park. For the record, Xuan Vinh and Van Congg are the Vietnam's first gold medallist in the world's top sporting event. Van Congg arrived at the finish line and handed over the baton back to Khanh Hai, who handed it back to Saravanan to signify the end of the run in the country. Saravanan then handed the baton to Timor Leste's Ambassador to Vietnam, Pascoela Barreto dos Santos. The seventh stage of the run will take place in Dili, Timor Leste, on April 17. The Rising Together Baton Run is to be one of the legacies of the 29th SEA Games and 9th ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur. For the first time in the history of the Games, the baton will travel to all the Southeast Asian countries, with Singapore as the final destination on May 13, before the start of the Torch Run around Malaysia on May 14. -- BERNAMA