digibet.info · Mongolia pins its medal hopes on judoka: "Cavalcades drove through Ulan Bator, flags waving from the car windows on August 14, 2008, when the news came through of the gold medal from judoka Tuvshinbayar Naidan.
"It was an historic moment. We in Mongolia had dreamed of this for so long," the head national judo trainer, Odbog Balshinyam, says.
Mongolians were particularly happy about the fact that the medal came in judo, as it is similar to the national sport of wrestling.
"Many new judo clubs were founded following this success," Balshinyam says. "Lots of youngsters have become interested since then."
The 52-year-old trainer, once a runner-up in the world championships in the class up to 100 kilograms, leans back in his chair and smiles with satisfaction, his strong neck creasing.
The hero of the day in 2008 in Beijing was Naidan, a strongly built man with square-cut face and narrow eyes also competing in the class up to 100 kilograms."
'via Blog this'
