Incheon, South Korea: One of the developments at the ongoing Asian Games here is the evident changing of the guard taking place among several countries belonging to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
Take Mongolia as an example. The majority of their 249-member squad is made up of youngsters. And they are very, very young.
No doubt this is being done with an eye on the future development of sport in Mongolia. But to have athletes who are mere babies does not look too good, especially when they have to pit their skills against some of Asia’s top sportspersons.
Of particular interest at the 2014 Asian Games swimming pool was the presence of five bubbly teenagers in Mongolian kit who were making an impression on the spectators while gaining a lot of experience.
Of the five, one is aged 15, two are 14, one is 13 and one is just 11! That’s the baby of the squad — Enerel Balchindorj, who was born on May 28, 2003. She goes to school at Ulaanbaatar University in the Mongolian capital, which is home to more than 45 per cent of the total population of the country. She stands just 158cm tall and weighs only 45kg, but she competed against the best in Asia.
Age or height is not on her side, but Balchindorj has the disposition and attitude to turn into a top-level swimmer, with an eye on “several Olympic Games and medals in the future”.
“I love swimming and I want to swim to be an Olympic champion one day,” Balchindorj told Gulf News. “I love what I am doing and I don’t see myself stopping any time soon. I am a champion in Mongolia and I want to be a champion of the world.”
Another good story coming out of the Mongolian camp was sumo wrestling champion Yokozuna Hakuho donating $16,000 (Dh59,000) to the nation’s baseball team so that the squad of youngsters could compete in Incheon.
In 2012, the same wrestler donated 120kg of rice bearing his name to a wrestling school so that they could eat well and grow to be champions one day.
