This annual sports festival Naadam is the most famous celebration across the country. It features the three manly sports: wrestling , archery and horse racing . Naadam is celebrated across the country and every town and village will hold its own wrestling, archery and horse racing contests. The official Naadam opening ceremony in Ulaanbaatar is quite spectacular.
Riders dressed as Genghis Khan' s entourage lead the huge procession around the Naadam stadium, which features hundreds of adults and children dressed in costumes representing all Mongolia's ethic groups. In Ulaanbaatar, wrestling takes place in the main Naadam stadium. Archery competitions are outside the stadium everywhere, while the famous, perilous horse races take place outside the city.
Wrestling is the most popular of all Mongol sports. It is the highlight of the Three Manly Games of Naadam. Historians claim that Mongol-style wrestling originated some seven thousand years ago. Hundreds of wrestlers from different cities and aimags around the country take part in the national wrestling competition.
Ample information about archery can be found in literary and historical documents of the 13th century and even before. According to historians, archery contests began in the 11th century.
The horses are taken to an adequate pasture separate from the herd and trained. Horses are divided into five groups: 2, 4 and 5 years old, over five years old and stallions.
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