PESA Chairman : We chose the colour yellow to symbolise winning Gold

65 days are left until the start of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad. During the games, Mongolia has obtained 29 spots to participate in the Summer Olympic Games. It will catch many people’s interest on how the Physical Education and Sports Authority (PESA) will focus and take care after the national team who will take part in the Olympics. The following is an interview with Ch.Naranbaatar, the chairman of PESA.

-The competitions to acquire Olympic rights are about to finish. Let’s start our interview with your evaluation in the all recent games and competitions.

-Mongolian sports teams and athletes got great encouragement and inspiration from the Olympic Games in Beijing. So it can be said that the preparations for the London Olympics began 4 years prior, right after the Olympic Games in 2008. Mongolian athletes competed successfully and with good scores giving them positions in the Olympics. We almost reached the goal to obtain no less than 30 places for Olympics. Three athletes on our team participated with high success in the past competitions. 

There is a great improvement between the qualifying athletes for the Beijing and London Olympics. This means our teams are liable to receive medals in light athletics, freestyle wrestling, judo, shooting and in the boxing classifications. Mongolia has much greater chances to achieve the success in London than back in 2008. 

-Isn’t it too early to give the promises as we’ve experience that the athletes who were hoped to achieve success, left unsuccessful?

-It‘s not a promise. It’s not only me predicting our athletes will be more successful in the London Olympics, our other professionals predict the same. Our athletes have become more cautious in their performance comparing to 4 years ago. Especially the ones who participated in previous Olympics are performing much more carefully. This was noticed in the freestyle wrestling and boxing competitions for Olympic spots. 

-The government is granting financial help to the athletes in the preparations for the upcoming Olympics. Could our teams and athletes participate in the competitions and do the training and preparations without any financial problems? 

-We all know that our athletes have taken part in many oversea competitions the past. Before, Mongolia barely participated in competitions that are held abroad because of financial situations. We used to seek for sponsors and investors to support us in participating in the competitions abroad. Since the Beijing Olympic Games our team and athletes haven’t suffered from financial problem. 

The Mongolian government has supported and helped as much as possible. Prime Minister, S.Batbold, works as a chairman of the national committee to prepare Mongolian teams for the Olympics. Deputy Minister, N.Enkhbold, is the head of the Mongolian team to compete in the London Olympics. They are paying attention to their athlete’s families, trainings and the competitions. We have been fortunate in receiving lots of support. For example, the parliament will bring into the discussion the pay rise of the team athletes. 

The salary of these hard working athletes, who are trying to declare the country’s name in the world arena, is only MNT 250,000. It’s time focus on improving the salary of the athletes. 

-Was the uniform of the athletes to compete in the London Olympics specially designed?

-Yes, it was. Symbolizing the gold medal from the Olympics, we chose the color yellow to make the design of the uniform of sportsmen. Our sportsmen will wear yellow colored uniforms in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. Many people complained that Mongolia copied the uniform of China when our team showed up to the Beijing Olympics 2008 in yellow uniforms. We have never copied China. We don’t care what color was chosen by Chinese team. We are just demonstrating the design and the color we chose. I want people to get that right. We also decided to wear Asics brand from Japan. 

-Obviously the training and the preparation will be the major issue. How many times did our freestyle wrestlers go to the joint training?

-Three countries offered our freestyle wrestlers to conduct the joint training. Our freestyle wrestlers will attend the 21 day joint training in Bulgaria prior to the Olympic Games. They will do the training in the 2100 meters height in the mountain region. Except our team, three more countries have joint trainings. Our freestyle wrestlers will do the training in Nairamdal Summer Camp after returning from Bulgaria. To reach success in the Olympic Games, physical training by itself is not enough, our athletes should be prepared on all sides. They should be in high spirits as well. We are organizing various events to encourage the athletes step by step to positively influence their psychology. Besides the trainers, PESA and Mongolian National Olympic Committee, various organizations and professionals are cooperating with the athletes who will attend the Olympics. The stupa is being erected in Altan Ovoo (Golden Hillock) in Sukhbaatar province devoting to the athletes. The opening ceremony of the stupa will be held tomorrow. The stupa is named as a stupa of sportsmen’s glory. The stupa is 4.65 meters high and has banks of two meters. We will pray for the new stupa for Gold medals. 

Gold medals of the London Olympic games is being made up with the gold from Mongolia, so it is really exciting to imagine that Mongolian sportsmen might carry the gold medal from the London Olympics. I predict that upcoming Olympics will be bright for Mongolians. 

-It is the first time that Mongolia is attending the Olympics with a team composed of 8 people. But people dislike the policy that the Freestyle Wrestling Committee is adhering to. What is your position on that?
-All issues are being solved by the rule of FILA. I think it is better to follow the rules and regulations that have already been set. The committee won’t decide it all alone. They will choose the athletes to attend the Olympics and then they will introduce it to us. The professionals will then state their suggestions and will choose the athlete who will achieve the most success. 

We will choose the athlete who has discipline, who is well trained and who has enough experience to participate in the London Games 2012. 

-What measures will be taken to adapt our athletes to the new environment? When will the Mongolian team be sent to London?

-Starting from the July 3rd Mongolian, athletes will head to London. In the first phase the swimming, light athletics and target shooting teams will arrive in London and will attend the joint training. 

-The rumor was spread that the Central Sports Palace will be demolished and all the belongings in it will be distributed to all provinces’ sports organizations. Will the current sports palace be replaced by the new one?

-The decision to demolish the current Sports Palace and erect a new building hasn’t been made yet. A specialized Inspection Agency examined the building of the Central Sports Palace and concluded that the building cannot be further used. Plumbing and electric lines are deteriorated and the wall and ceiling have huge cracks. We are worrying about the security of the audience and athletes who gather in the Central Sports Palace. Especially during the basketball and the volleyball matches where many people gather to cheer. We submitted the renovation issue of Sports Palace to the parliament. I think they will make decision in the near future. 

-My last question is do you support the idea of MP D.Battulga to grant the Olympic winner of Mongolia with MNT 1 billion?

-I support the initiation of D.Battulga, because to win in the Olympic Games is an occasion once in a blue moon. Before Beijing, Mongolia won no gold medals in the Olympics for 44 years. So I think it is right to grant Olympic winner with MNT 1 billion. This will encourage athletes and will get them focused to win in the next Olympic Games. I hope the rest MPs will support the initiation of MP, D.Battulga, and I believe our athletes will achieve greater success in the London Olympic games 2012.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog