VN’s swimmer honoured at Asian Para Games closing ceremony

Vietnamese swimmer Vo Thanh Tung (in yellow) was among outstanding athletes honoured at the closing ceremony of the 2018 Asian Para Games

Tung pocketed three gold and two silver medals at the continent’s biggest sporting event for athletes with disabilities.

Addressing the ceremony, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla lauded the athletes’ determination despite their physical challenges.

“We Are One Wonder” was the theme of the closing ceremony, a true celebration of the concept of “wonder”. 

The word “wonder” contains a feeling of amazement and admiration, caused by something beautiful and remarkable, said the organisers, adding that hidden in the word “wonder”, there is also the word “won”, the past tense of a glorious victory, a tale of triumph.

Featuring powerful music, artistic extravaganza and live theatrical action of wayang (Indonesian shadow puppets), “We Are One Wonder” brought a wonderful spectacle to close the Indonesia 2018 Asian Para Games. The show included images of achievements of the athletes on all competition days.

At the ceremony, the Asian Para Games flag and torch was handed to China, which will host the next Games in 2022.

After six days of competition, Vietnam claimed a total of 40 medals, including eight golds, eight silvers, and 24 bronzes, ranking 12th in the medal tally.

China topped the overall rankings with 172 golds, followed by the Republic of Korea with 53 gold medals.

The Asian Para Games, which follows the Asian Games every four years, attracted athletes from 43 countries and territories in Asia this year.