Military Sports: steadily moving forward with the country

Over the years, the Army Sports has performed well as one of the three pillars of the country's Sports, contributing many coaches, athletes and impressive achievements in domestic and international sports tournaments. Thereby, affirming the position of the Army Sports as a core force, rich in tradition, contributing significantly to the golden record of achievements of Vietnamese Sports.

Historical Mark

From the very first day of the establishment of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army (December 22, 1944), physical training, military training , and martial arts were valued, creating the foundation for sports in the Army.

After the Dien Bien Phu victory, Army Sports was organized more formally, with a system of gifted schools and training centers, both serving national defense and training athletes for the country. During the anti-American period, besides combat training, Army Sports also became a large movement: "Healthy to build and protect the Fatherland".

In the period (1975 - 2000), the Army Sports developed into a spearhead force, contributing a large number of coaches and athletes to the national teams and the athletes made significant contributions to the gold medal of achievements of Vietnamese Sports, notably in Olympic and Asian Games sports such as: Shooting, Archery, Martial Arts, Athletics, Gymnastics, Wrestling, Weightlifting, Volleyball, Football... In particular, the Army Football and Volleyball Clubs were the "cradle" of many Vietnamese Sports talents who brought glory to the Fatherland.

The first generation of The Cong players. (Photo: Archive)

In particular, in the last two decades (2000 - present) - a period of deep international integration, Military Sports has always played a pivotal role in the overall achievements of Vietnamese Sports in the international arena.

That is demonstrated through the outstanding achievements of Military Sports. Notable are the gold and silver medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics of shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh (Shooting). In addition, there are: Nguyen Tien Minh, Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, Truong Thi Kim Tuyen… all of whom grew up in the Military environment or were trained in this system.

Along with that, every year, the Military Sports Centers continue to be key training facilities, training talented athletes for the national team. Contributing a team of good coaches and military - sports experts to the country. Not stopping there, Military Sports has also made great contributions in hosting and successfully organizing events such as: SEA Games 22 (2003), SEA Games 31 (2022) taking place in Vietnam.

Continue the glorious history

Vietnam Military Sports has a history of more than 80 years, closely linked to the formation, growth and development of the Vietnam People's Army. On that journey, athletes and coaches in the armed forces through the periods have been constantly training and practicing hard to become talented.

Over the years, Army sports have not only performed well in representing the Army in national and international competitions, but also contributed many quality coaches and athletes, helping Vietnamese sports gradually improve its ranking on the regional, continental and world sports map.

Through a long journey of development with the country, there have been many stories of hard work to achieve high achievements that have always been followed by many generations of athletes of high-performance sports in the Army. Among them, The Cong is a name that cannot be ignored. Right from the early days of its establishment, despite many difficulties in terms of facilities and human resources, The Cong has been proactive and active in completing its tasks well. The Football, Basketball, and Volleyball teams named The Cong have won many national awards; especially the The Cong football team used to be the representative image of the Vietnam People's Army and the country participating in competitions, achieving many high achievements in international competitions. We are proud to mention the generations of athletes representing the previous period of Army sports such as: Shooter Tran Oanh (SKDA Gold Medal in 1958 in Germany); famous players Nguyen Binh, The Anh, Trong Giap (Football)...

Military Sports contributes significantly to the golden record of achievements of Vietnamese Sports.

Following the glorious tradition of The Cong, today's generation of outstanding Army sports includes shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh (gold medal, silver medal, record-breaking Rio 2016 Olympics); martial artist sisters Nguyen Thi Ngoan and Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly (karate); Nguyen Van Lai, Bui Thi Nguyen, Bui Van Su, Nguyen Tien Trong, Nguyen Linh Na (athletics); Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, Tran Hung Nguyen, Thuy Hien (swimming); Ha Minh Thanh, Phi Thanh Thao (shooting)... At the National Sports Festivals, the Army sports delegation has always been firmly in third place. Most recently at the 32nd SEA Games in 2023, Army athletes competed in 21/37 sports, won 45 medals of all kinds, and broke 2 records. At the 19th Asian Games, athlete Nguyen Thi Ngoan won 1 silver medal, coach Hoang Xuan Vinh participated in training the athlete to win 1 gold medal...

To achieve these impressive results, Army sports continues to build a solid foundation in selecting, training and coaching athletes. Continuing the proud tradition of The Cong, Army high-performance sports confidently dominates national, regional, continental and world playgrounds thanks to a systematic youth training system organized in 3 lines.

According to Colonel Pham Hong Lam - Party Secretary, Political Commissar of the Army Sports Center: in the past 10 years, with the spirit of solidarity and efforts to overcome difficulties, the sports teams of the Army Sports Center have achieved many outstanding achievements; participated in 468 national competitions, 188 international competitions; won 5,588 medals of all kinds, broke and set 124 national records, 8 international records.

Looking back on the past, the Army's high-performance sports are always proud to be one of the three strong pillars of Vietnamese sports, along with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In addition to continuing the heroic tradition of previous generations, the Army's sports teams/centers are always intelligent, innovative, and creative in selection, training, and competition to achieve high results.

Focus on sustainable development

Promoting the achieved results, in 2025, in addition to the task of building a core force of athletes, the Army will focus on creating conditions for athletes to train and compete internationally to improve their skills.

Military Sports steadily develops, affirming its position

In addition, focus on innovating training methods, paying attention to selecting talented athletes; developing a plan to prepare staff, coaches, and athletes to participate in the National Sports Festival in 2026; striving to have many coaches and athletes trained in national teams, participating in the 33rd SEA Games and the 20th Asian Games in 2026; paying attention to investing in facilities, training and competition equipment, ensuring standards and nutritional regimes for coaches and athletes according to regulations and implementing the Army's rear policy well.

In the new stage of sports development, in addition to the determination to overcome difficulties, the Army's high-performance sports always focus on researching new training methods, focusing on youth training and mobilizing social resources. The Army will continue to pay attention to the treatment and reward regime and gradually socialize to encourage and motivate athletes to actively participate in competitions, confidently contributing to Army sports in particular and national sports in general. In addition, the Army is developing the Draft "Organizing the training of key young and talented athletes in the Vietnam People's Army from 2025 to 2035" to meet the requirements of the task of developing high-performance sports in the Army in the long term and sustainably.

In addition, focus on consolidating and perfecting the force, paying attention to the source of athletes next to the lines. Inspect and evaluate talented athletes closely and scientifically, forecast development potential to build effective training plans; coordinate with state management agencies on physical education and sports, federations and sports associations to effectively carry out the work of fostering and training professional skills for managers, coaches and referees to meet requirements and tasks.

In particular, the Army Sports will expand the area for athlete selection nationwide, paying attention to localities with traditions and strengths in required sports; expanding the selection satellite; proactively applying new advanced scientific and technical advances in the selection work. Actively coordinate with provinces, cities and sectors to regularly organize training and competition forms to improve the professional quality, mettle and competitive mentality of athletes. Continue to pay attention and focus on organizing cultural education for athletes to ensure quality, including improving foreign language proficiency...

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/the-thao-quan-doi-vung-buoc-di-len-cung-dat-nuoc-20250827142337404.htm