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NAADAM SPORTS |
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"If you get lost," Ider had said, "then go to the flagpole. You can't miss it." Well, sure enough, as I came out of the opening ceremonies into a sea of people, I couldn't find Ider. It took me about 45 seconds to realize that I would never find them in this crowd. And they were headed for the archery venue and I had no idea where that was. So, I headed for the flagpole and waited there for him. About 15 minutes later he showed up. "Pat! You're here! I'm so happy you are here!" Well, of course I was. Where else would I be??
Just in case, I had another security blanket--a little card on which Ider had written in Mongolian, "I am lost. Please help me by calling Ider at xxxxxxx." |
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| Both men and women compete (separately) in archery using the traditional Mongolian bow.
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| The archers stand in groups of four at the line and shoot at targets--and the judges are standing next to the targets to mark how close they come. I would not want to be a judge. |
The whole sports complex area was packed with people and groups. And, probably, people getting lost. | |
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| Outside the venues, there is one huge carnival going on. Hot food? Got it.
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Pool table? Check. | |
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| Pony rides. One very small child started to cry when his father put him on a horse--does that get you disowned in Mongolia?
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Ring toss, knock over the bottle, stuffed animal prizes --they were all there. | |
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| Outside of town, there was a crowd gathering where the horses were getting ready to race. This is point-to-point racing, not track racing--the horses are walked to a point 12-20 miles away (depending on age), and then they race full tilt cross country to the finish.
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Oh, and the jockeys range in age from about 6 to about 9. | |
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| You can stand at the finish line, as we did, but you get a better view if you bring your horse.
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It takes quite a while for the horses to come into view (about 25 minutes for the race we saw), so there is no need to pay really close attention to the race until the end.
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| And here comes the winner--about 12 lengths ahead of his nearest competitor. No contest. This jockey, like about half of them, rode bareback.
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No matter where they were finishing, the jockeys were enthusiastic, even if only to beat the next one in line. | |
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| There were 360 horses in the race, so it took quite a while for all of them to cross the finish line. Not all of them had riders anymore--a jockeyless horse can finish but loses one place in the standings.
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One horse collapsed from exhaustion just before crossing the finish. Fortunately he was able to get up after a couple of IVs. A horse the next day was not so lucky.
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| A proud jockey--his horse finished in the top 15. | One of the trainers - the stick with the loop he is holding is used to catch horses.
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