Sports Friday of Defence Minister Peter Gajdoš in Banská Bystrica

SVK Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš familiarised himself with the final preparations of sportsmen and women at the Military Sports Centre Dukla Banská Bystrica (MSC DBB) prior to the Summer Olympic Games. A total of 16 sportsmen and women have so far qualified for the Olympics, with six others still working hard on their qualifications. Nevertheless, it is clear by now that Slovakia’s military sportsmen and women will have their strongest presence at the Summer Olympics ever. During his visit to the MSC DBB, Minister Gajdoš was briefed by Richard Galovič, the director of the MSC DBB, on the latest organisational structure introduced by the MSC DBB leadership earlier in January 2016. As part of his tour of the MSC DBB facilities and meeting with sportsmen and women, Peter Gajdoš, who is an active sportsman himself, tried throwing a hammer during the training session of hammer thrower Martina Hrašnová and attended a karate training session led by Klaudio Farmadín.

At the football stadium in Radvaň, Banská Bystrica, still on 20 May, SVK Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš opened the 6th International Small Football Tournament, which was organised in memory of soldiers who died while serving on international crisis management missions and operations by the Slovak Veterans’ Union with support of the SVK MOD. “I am proud of all servicemen and women who bring credit to Slovakia while serving on operations abroad. A total of 17, 000 soldiers, of whom nearly 500 were servicewomen, have so far served on operations. Unfortunately, there are situations when their missions end without a happy end and they never return home to their beloved ones. It is, therefore, our responsibility to take maximum efforts to keep their memory alive so that the people of Slovakia come to realise the values of quiet life and peace, because they do not come for free,” said the head of the SVK MOD.