One of the topics of this edition of the magazine is “Paris – 2024 Olympic Games.” We invited Batbold Battushig, President of the National Olympic Committee of Mongolia, as a guest. He was elected as the First Vice President of the Mongolian National Olympic Committee in 2017. He has been serving as the President since 2022 and has been a representative of the International Olympic Committee in Mongolia since 2020.

-You are not only a representative of the business sector but also a social activist contributing to the spread of sport-Olympism in Mongolia. Since this year is the year of the Olympics, one topic that cannot be left without being asked or talked about is the Olympics. How do you imagine the Olympic success of the Mongolian team and athletes?

 Before the Olympics, I am really wary of predicting the success of teams and athletes. Exaggerating reality or creating expectations has both positive and negative psychological effects on athletes. Since Mongolia first participated in the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, it has improved its success in every Summer Olympic Games. The number of athletes participating in the Olympic Games and the success of participating in the Winter Olympic Games without skipping a beat will undoubtedly be repeated.

Even during the pandemic, we overcame the difficult situation, maintained our success, and had two athletes participate in the “Beijing-2022” Winter Olympic Games. Although Mongolia has a population of 3.5 million, it has 30 Olympic medals. In terms of the number and quality of medals, teams and athletes from some countries with a much larger population than Mongolia have not been as successful. I understand this as one of the world’s achievements. Mongolians are considered to be talented in sports.

At the current Olympic Games in France, the ratio of male to female athletes in our team is almost 50:50, which is a sign that we are able to implement the principles of gender equality proposed by the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations in reality. Also, during the “Paris-2024” Olympic Games, a major event will be planned to promote Mongolia to the world. A “Mongolia House” will be built for the very first time in “La Villette” park in Paris. It will feature a stage with a Mongolian half Ger-shaped design and two Mongolian Gers. An event will be organized to promote national heritage, culture, and customs.We will receive Mongolian and foreign guests and promote our country during the 16 days of the Olympic Games. Mr. Yesunmunkh, director of Modern Nomads LLC and Tenger TV, and their team have been working tirelessly for the last few months to organize these events together with the Mongolian National Olympic Committee. It is jointly supported by the Government of Mongolia, the Capital City Governor’s Office, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Embassy of Mongolia in the Republic of France. Also, the national air carrier MIAT provided a discount on flight tickets for the Mongolian team during the Olympic Games and resolved the issue of free transportation of sports clothes From Mizuno for the athletes participating in the “Paris-2024” Olympic Games. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Mongolian House working group from our Mongolian National Olympic Committee, and to the organizations and companies that are working together to make this project happen for the athletes. I had originally the idea in 2018 during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games, after attending the USA house event there and we tried for Tokyo 2020 but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we were only able to do a virtual one.

We plan to invite all the IOC Members and Olympic family friends to attend. Among them, there are quite a few heads of state, high-ranking government officials, and businessmen. Another big goal of ours is the ambition to put forward a proposal to organize the 2027 session of the International Olympic Committee and the 2030 Youth Olympic Games in Mongolia. The Youth Olympic Games were held in Argentina in 2018. The 2022 Youth Olympic Games were to be held in Senegal, Africa, but they were not ready to host the Youth Olympic Games, so they decided to host them in 2026. The IOC will soon accept proposals from host countries for 2030. That is why we believe that Mongolia has the potential to host the Youth Olympic Games.There is a lot of economic and financial burden and pressure for any country when organizing the Olympic Games, but for organizing the Youth Olympic Games, the chance for developing countries is much higher given the support given for athletes travel expense and accommodation and organizational cost from the International Olympic Committee.

Therefore, one of the main goals of the “Mongolian House” project is to promote the country, support its athletes, and get support for the right to organize large events in the country. If that is done, it will be possible to build a new stadium in Khui Doloon Khudag or in a place that will be supported by the state, as well as build an athlete campus nearby. After that, there are successful examples of other Olympic countries that have turned the athletes’ villages to affordable housing projects especially focused on reducing poverty and having families move to better accommodation which the government can support through lower mortgage loans for the families in need. Olympism is not only about supporting the development of sports but also about how sports can benefit the society and economy of the country, how it can support the government, and how to protect the health of the population through movement and physical activities for children and the rest of the population.

-You were elected the President of the Mongolian National Olympic Committee and a representative of the International Olympic Committee in Mongolia. How do you evaluate the development of professional sports and the idea of Olympism in Mongolia, and how do you envision its future?

 Mongolia is one of the few countries in Asia, and specifically Central Asia, that currently has a member in the International Olympic Committee, for which I’m very grateful. This means that we have the right to vote on major Olympic policy decisions, such as the rules and charters of the International Olympic Committee, which sports will be included in the Olympics, and which country will be given the right to host the Olympics.

This is the second time that the International Olympic Committee has elected a member from Mongolia. Mongolians may know that Mr. Magvan Shagdarjav was elected from 1977 to 2007 and has been an honorary member since then. I was elected as a member of the committee in 2020, 13 years after 2007. Since 2017 until 2022, I had been elected as the first vice-president of the National Olympic Committee of Mongolia and serving as Acting President of MNOC from 2018 to 2020, and then officially elected as the President of the Mongolian National Olympic Committee from 2022 until today.

In Mongolia, sport has not been commercialized and is not an economically self-sustaining sector. Only because of the Olympics, some athletes are talked about, and at other times, public sports and physical sports do not reach or get much attention. The lack of spectators for international competitions is an indication that the sport is not popular among the masses. Only a couple have done well such as basketball in recent years in addition to the Olympic sports such as wrestling, judo and boxing. If you look at countries such as South Korea, China, and Japan, many Olympic sports have been developed at the level of national sports. When there is a competition, people take time off work to watch it.

The competition hall and field were full of spectators. But we don’t have spectators when there are big international competitions. In rural areas, some sports are not developed at all, and two or three sports are slightly more developed. Sports are first developed in the form of physical sports involving the public, and professional athletes are born from that process. We don’t know how many talented children are unable to develop their talents because of this situation. That’s why we pay more attention to this aspect and aim to implement the Olympic values and educational program implemented by the International Olympic Committee. It means that content such as the educational program for the development of the Olympics, how to work together in a team, and how to develop ethics will be introduced. It is currently in the translation stage. Today, along with the rapid development of e-sports, almost all children are addicted to electronic games and screens, and they should be attracted and promoted to physical sports. The question is how to consider sports, physical activity, and health in a coherent manner and what policy should be used to create it. There is a reason why the Mongolian National Olympic Committee is partnering with the Mother and Child Health Center and the International Women’s Organization.

One of the goals and activities of the International Olympic Committee is to spread the knowledge of how to protect health, how to be physically fit, and how to make proper nutrition a habit, and to implement it in coordination with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It is detailed in the Olympic Agenda 2020+5. It Is not just a matter of registering athletes and giving rights to the Olympics. That is why I think it is appropriate to implement it in our country as well.

-Does it mean that you will activate your activities in a new direction after the Paris Olympics?

We plan to work more closely with government and administrative organizations, the private sector, and companies. For example, we are discussing the construction of a stadium in cooperation with the City Government. I would like to hold the opening of the Youth Olympics in a stadium with 20,000 people. Maybe later, world-class singers and stars can perform there. Mongolia has the potential for this. Now the Naadam Festival is about to take place. It’s time to have such a large sports, concert and entertainment stadium. I think that when Thousands of tourists come every year, they want to see Naadam, but the existing infrastructure is not even enough for the local Mongolians to see the opening ceremony of the Naadam festival.

-How do you see your future career? Should you combine sports development and business, and which should you pay more attention to?

Business growth and sports development are seen together in Mongolia, due to the lack of sponsorship and financial support to the sports federations which are NGO’s. In any case, in addition to a good policy, capital and funding are very important for carrying out the planned and intended work. So, if you manage your business well, sports federations and organizations sponsoring competitions will increase, and the new activities of the Olympic Committee and projects like Mongolia House will be successful. The growth and development of national companies is also important. It is a standard in all countries that sports development is progressed by the partnership of successful businesses and the successful development of national companies. The International Olympic Committee has the TOP partners program, or “The Olympic Partner,” and has partnered with global companies on the marketing partnerships with private companies such as Toyota, Samsung, and Alibaba for development of the Olympic movement.

For projects such as “Mongolia House”, expenses start even from the rental fees of the space in Paris, during the Olympic Games to the security costs, electricity and many other costs associated. This work is going on with the participation of partner organizations. In addition to the above-mentioned government institutions, private sector companies such as XacBank, Skytel, Monnis, and Petrovis have been supporting the Mongolia House project from the beginning. It has even been presented to the Secretary General of the Olympic Council of Asia and received support. Also, we regularly support sports associations or athletes from our family business related activities. With this, we try to encourage our national companies to develop sports and Olympic movement as an example. For example, TOP companies and enterprises are invited to participate in the construction of a new stadium.

I am sure that many private sector representatives will be added in the future. If we successfully organize it this time, it will be a great opportunity to promote Mongolia, like the World Expo, by continuing to carry out the Mongolia House project at the “Harbin-2025” Asian Winter Games, “Milan Cortina-2026” Winter Olympics, and “Los Angeles-2028” Summer Olympics.

Journal MONGOLICA