The Wall Street Journal publishes that,
Mongolia Celebrates
Medal and Puts Halt
To Fighting … for Now
By GORDON FAIRCLOUGH
ULAN BATOR, Mongolia — Last month, rioting in the wake of disputed parliamentary elections left five dead in Mongolia’s capital.
But now this city is the scene of celebration. Mongolia, the world’s most sparsely populated country, with 2.6 million people, last week won its first Olympic gold medal.
“This is a huge thing,” that “tells us that, yes, we can be champions,” says Sanjaasuren Oyun, Mongolia’s foreign minister.
The gold medal, in judo, combined with a silver medal in shooting have boosted the confidence of a country that has struggled to redefine itself after decades as a satellite of the old Soviet Union.
“People here have felt like they were viewed as intellectually and economically disabled,” says Regsuren Bat-Erdene, a senior official of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Now, Olympic success is changing that. “Self-confidence is a very important thing,” he says.
The gold medalist, 24-year-old Tuvshinbayar Naidan, is the son of herders from rural northern Mongolia. His victory last week drew a crowd of thousands into Ulan Bator’s central square here to celebrate. In a show of extraordinary — if temporary — unity, the nation’s president and prime minister addressed the crowd along with the head of the main opposition party.
“Mongolians are united again,” shouted Prime Minister Sanjaa Bayar, standing before an enormous statue of the country’s legendary leader Genghis Khan. “Viva Mongolia!”
Playing the national anthem was a military brass band dressed in the regalia of the mounted Mongol soldiers who once guarded an empire extending from Vienna to Vietnam. “We’re a small nation, but we have a very big history,” says Mrs. Oyun, the foreign minister.
Since the Soviet Union’s collapse, Mongolia has strived to become a democracy with a market economy. The recent violence arose as the nation is trying to put into practice laws on elections, campaign finance and corruption. Politicians are also grappling with how to distribute the country’s gains from mining metals and minerals.
Poverty is a serious problem. Last year, per capita gross domestic product was about $1,150, according to the government. Food prices are up 40% from a year ago. Almost half of the population lives in felt tents, called gers.
But there is economic progress. In downtown Ulan Bator, glass-and-steel office towers are sprouting amid the decrepit Soviet-era architecture.
Mongolia had won 15 Olympic medals in previous Games, but never a gold, and Mr. Tuvshinbayar’s judo victory in the 100-kilogram weight class has deepened confidence in the country’s direction. “Winning a gold medal shows that we are stepping forward and catching up with development in the rest of the world,” says Dorj-Khorloo Dorj-Byamba, a 28-year-old entrepreneur who runs a bread and biscuit company.
Mongolia sent 29 athletes to the Beijing Games, more than to past Olympics. Improved finances have enabled the government to invest more in its national teams. A new training center is set to open in 2010.
Yet with the 2008 Games ongoing, Mongolians want more medals. Still in the hunt for Mongolia are two boxers, some wrestlers and a marathoner.
Every major television station is broadcasting hours of Olympics coverage every day. In the evenings, crowds gather around a large-screen TV set up under a tent near the national library downtown to watch Mongolian athletes compete.
In a nation of vast grasslands and deserts, herders with satellite dishes outside their gers are tuning in, as are people in mountain villages.
“I’m watching every day. It’s so exciting,” says Munkbhat, a pig farmer who lives in a one-room cabin in the mountains 50 miles east of Ulan Bator.
There have been disappointments, including the defeat of one of Mongolia’s best-known athletes, 55-kilogram wrestler Naranbaatar Bayaraa. Wrestling is one of Mongolia’s three traditional “manly sports” — the other two being archery and horseback riding — and wrestlers here enjoy celebrity status.
Yet in the waning days of the Mongolian summer, in the glow of Mr. Tuvshinbayar’s gold medal and of the Games being played almost next door, the denizens of Ulan Bator are upbeat.
“Our country is developing more and more,” says Altankhuyag Dash, a 20-year-old university student and wrestler. “Things are definitely getting better. The future looks good.”
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[...] Some Golds Shine Brighter Than OthersThe gold medalist, 24-year-old Tuvshinbayar Naidan, is the son of herders from rural northern Mongolia. His victory last week drew a crowd of thousands into Ulan Bator’s central square here to celebrate. In a show of extraordinary — if … [...]