Asia Triathlon

If at First You Succeed, Tri, Tri again

Written by William Kennedy for UB Post   

Thursday, August 07, 2008.

Just an Idea
NOT MANY whims turn into national sporting events, but a sports journalist’s idea to bring triathlon to Mongolia is one of them. Four years after watching the three-stage race as a correspondent at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Byambaa Tsagaanbaatar, founder and now General Secretary of Mongolian Triathlon Union, decided to see if Mongolians would take to the sport. Last week, the Union hosted Mongolia’s fourth National Triathlon Championship at the International Children’s Center in Nairamdal.
Mongolia’s most decorated triathlete, B. Telmen, surprised few when she earned the country’s top spot in the women’s event with a time of 48.58. The seventeen-year old won gold this summer in the female junior division at the ITU Asian Cup in Burabay, Kazakhstan. She won silver at the 2007 Cup.

In the elite men’s competition, cycling standout B. Bold-Erdene claimed first place, after a two year hiatus from national triathlon competition, with a time of 1.07.00. He bested B. Zorigt and the man with Mongolia’s fastest time in an Olympic standard triathlon (2.23.13) Ch. Battulga, who finished second and third with respective times of 1.11.00 and 1.13.10.

Within Limits
Space restraints limit the distances athletes race at Mongolia’s Triathlon Championship. In Beijing later this August, athletes will swim 1.5 kilometers, bike 40 kilometers and run 10 kilometers when they compete in the Olympic standard race. While the Nairamdal Children’s Center offered beautiful conditions, the roads leading to the compound and its small manmade lake forced organizers to cut each leg of the elite male competition to half the Olympic length. Women and juniors, 19 and under, competed in a 600 meter swim, 10 kilometer bike ride and 3.5 kilometer run.

While not meeting international standards, the setting offered a marked improvement over the Mongolian Triathlon Union’s earliest events. At its first National Championship in East Ulaanbaatar, Tsagaanbaatar said, “we didn’t have a deep enough body of water, and waste high pool sparked athletic creativity during the swimming stage. “Some people swam, he said “but others ran through the water and some people jumped. It was very funny to watch.

69 athletes took part in this year’s Championship, an increase of 9 from 2007, and about as many people watched the event. The competition is no Naadam festival, but if one considers triathlon’s brief history in Mongolia, the sport has made remarkable progress.

“We started from zero, Tsagaanbaatar said. “We didn’t have anything in 2005, it was just me.

From Scratch
When the Union was founded on December 18, 2004, there was not a single triathlete in Mongolia, much less a budget or training facilities. Tsagaanbaatar began his triathlon experiment believing that foreigners might want to compete in Mongolian-based Triathlons, but he was skeptical about domestic interest. “I thought it wouldn’t be popular in Mongolia because it’s so hard, Tsagaanbaatar said. “I didn’t think we’d have Mongolian athletes.

However, by July of 2005, Tsagaanbaatar found three young recruits: A. Ankhzul, E. Munkhbayasgalan and M. Tsenguun. After two weeks of training, Tsagaanbaatar took his trio of prot’s to a competition in Kazakhstan, and Mongolia had its first official triathletes.

By the end of summer 2005, Mongolia held its first National Championship. After Tsagaanbaatar attended the Asian Triathlon Championships in Singapore, Mongolia joined the Asia Triathlon Confederation. With the Union firmly established, he asked friend and businessman S. Byambatsogt to serve as president.

Buoyancy and Funds
While it may be well established, triathlon did not become a craze, and Tsagaanbaatar is always looking for ways to expand interest in the sport. Toward this end, the Union included an amateur event in this year’s championship, won by B. Sonin-Erdene, and an official relay where teammates N. Tsogjargal, J. Olziibaatar, T. Ochirbaatar took gold. This relay in which one teammate swims, one bikes and one runs is designed to introduce good athletes, who have avoided the sport because of insufficient skill in one or two areas, to triathlon.

“Triathlon is still not so popular in Mongolia, Tsagaanbaatar said. “That’s why we push this event. In particular, natives of the land locked country struggle in the water.

“We have good cyclists and good runners, Tsagaanbaatar said. “But I can’t say our swimmers are too good.

Another handicap for Mongolian triathlon is a lack of funding. Currently the Union has a budget of US$30,000 with most of their funds coming from family, friends, and a few corporate sponsors. “We don’t need millions, Tsagaanbaatar said. But, like any sports organization, they can always use more.

Great 08
Despite these obstacles, 2008 has been good to the Mongolian Triathlon Union. In addition to Telmen’s first place finish at the Asia Cup, the union tripled its female membership by adding B. Enkhjargal and 11- year old Kh. Javkhlantuya who took second and third respectively at this year’s national championships to its ranks. They join Telmen and the Union’s ten full time male members.

In late June, Mongolia’s voters elected Union President Byambatsogt to parliament, which can only boost the sport’s national profile.

Mongolian triathletes will have a chance to stand out this year on an international stage at the Asian Beach Games in Bali, scheduled for October. Union officials will select two men and two women to compete in the event this September, but Tsagaanbaatar does not hold any great expectations.

“I don’t think we will be among the medalists, he said. “18 countries will send athletes and d like us to beat one or two and to improve our times.”
Even Mongolia’s top competitors like Telmen will likely struggle at the Beach games, which features only elite categories, meaning she and other young athletes will compete against participants of all ages.

As newcomers to the triathlon world, the Mongolian Triathlon Union does not anticipate a member ascending the podium at an elite-level competition anytime soon. However, Tsagaanbaatar and others believe that the country’s growing participation in the sport and its success at the junior level can only bode well for future of Mongolian triathlon.