The 29th Angkor International Half Marathon this year broke 28 years record with the highest presence of Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet
The 29th Angkor International Half Marathon at Angkor Wat, Siem Reap Province, will be held on December 1, 2024, having received the great honor of being invited to preside over the opening ceremony and participating in the race directly from Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, Prime Minister of Cambodia.
Through the highest presence of Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Prime Minister has urged the annual major tourism event on the Angkor Land to attract a large number of national and international athletes, until breaking the unity of the participants who ran for the past 28 years record. This was stated by H.E. Vath Chamroeun, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC).
His Excellency said that: After the closing of the applications process recently, the commission received a total of 14,000 registrations. This is the highest number of participants ever in the history of the Angkor International Half Marathon Day in the past three decades, as the highest number of participants in the past 28 years was just over 12,000 in 2019, before the COVID-19 crisis.
H.E. Vath Chamroeun continued that: “Our Angkor International Half Marathon this year broke the record for the largest number of participants, reaching 14,000 participants, that is an unprecedented number with a sharp increase in participants. It can be said that due to the highest presence and attention of Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei and the New Royal Government, with energy and long-term vision, people all across the country as well as foreign visitors have supported and the plan to attract tourism to Angkor Wat has also received support.”
Along with this unprecedented increase in participants, H.E. Dr. Senior Minister Thong Khon, Chairman of the Siem Reap-Angkor Tourism Management and Development Commission and President of NOCC, urged the relevant working groups, especially the urging commission, to prepare to carry out their work to be well and highly efficient, especially in welcoming all national and international guests to provide warmth and safety to all athletes participating in the race.
H.E. Secretary-General considered this is a great success, not only in sports but also in tourism, as well as a success in injecting energy in to the national economy. In fact, according to the recent Joint Command Meeting, currently all star hotels in Siem Reap City, such as 3 stars, 4 stars, 5 stars or other hotels, are fully booked. This is a great boost for the economy by absorbing more than 10,000 participants at the same time.
H.E. Vath Chamroeun expressed optimism that: “The highest honor of Samdech Borvor Thipadei will make the Angkor Half Marathon Day, to be more popular and of good quality, both in terms of organization, tourist attraction, and safety, which will make the international community see the hospitality, peace, and development of Cambodia, and the new energy of the Royal Government of the 7th term in more than a year, and there are truly amazing the new achievements that have been created and will continue to grow in the future.”
Through this, the expert commission led by the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, in cooperation with the Siem Reap Province Authority, the Apsara Authority, the Angkor Foundation and the Armed Forces of Siem Reap Province, will jointly commit to working hard to organize this major annual tourism event to be held smoothly and successfully, with safety and warmth for all national and international athletes who will participate in the fun run in the Angkor region of Siem Reap Province on December 1, 2024.