Real olympiad for man’s sports in Mongolia

Naadam is the national festival of Mongolia held from July 11th to 13th. The festival is also called “Eriin Gurvan Naadam,” meaning “men’s three variety of games”. The games are Mongolian wrestling horse racing and archery and are the only ones that are held throughout the country. This festival has been held for centuries as a form of memorial celebration, as an annual sacrificial ritual honoring various mountain gods or to celebrate a community endeavor.

About 300 horses are galloping, ridden by a literal horde of Mongolians wearing pointed hats and flowing robes, and clutching ancient bows and arrows. But before this ghostly apparition can reach me, the riders are forced to stop at a busy highway crossing, where speeding cars and buses swerve desperately to avoid them. Children as young as five ride bareback for 15 miles in the horse races, which continue for two days. Only a handful join the “airag’s five”, the sacred winner’s circle. Winning horses and riders are showered with fermented mare’s milk, or airag, the national nectar. Riders repeat an old “ghingo” chant before the starting gun, then push horses to a feverous pace by shouting “goog.” The fastest horses are honored with poetic names from Mongolia’s glorious past.
Outside the wrestling arena, archers take aim at tiny targets in the third-most manly sport of Mongol folklore. A line of 360 leather rings run in a line perpendicular to the bowman in the middle of two rows of dirt mounds. Men shoot at a distance of 75 meters; women from 60 meters. The object is to barely clear the first mound and pierce the targets. A scattering of red rings bring bonus points.

In the Naadam Stadium the three sporting passions of Mongolians, horse racing, wrestling and archery, are played out over 2 days. Naadam Festival is the main event of the year in Mongolia with the roots from the nomad assemblies and hunting extravaganza of the Mongol armies. It’s partially a family reunion, a fair and nomad Olympics, Naadam meaning holiday or festival.