Lausanne, Switzerland, January 18, 2020: Four athletes are flying the flag for Mongolia in the cross-country skiing competition at the Winter Youth Olympic Games – and it’s all thanks to a retired Swiss doctor.
The four skiers are products of a passion project that Pascal Gertsch began three years ago in the wilderness of eastern Mongolia.
With wooden sticks for makeshift ski poles, 15 enthusiastic children and a passion for cross-country skiing and for Mongolia, Pascal embarked on a mission to build a team for Lausanne 2020 - from scratch.
The retired Swiss doctor had been volunteering his medical expertise in Mongolia since 2013, and putting together a team for the YOG in his homeland seemed an opportunity not to be missed.
Before long, Gertsch had come up with blueprints to build ski tracks in Mongolia, imported hundreds of pairs of skis and taken the young hopefuls on training and competition trips across Europe – all out of his own pocket.
“For me, it is completely crazy to have four athletes here; you don’t build an athlete in two years,” said the 74-year-old Swiss, a skilful skier himself who was the doctor for the Swiss Nordic ski team for 12 years.
“It’s impossible. In the beginning, it was terrible. They have improved a lot and would have improved more if we had one more year.”
Among his team of young skiers is Nomin-Erdene Barsnyam, 15. “It was really hard at the beginning,” she said. “So many times I wanted to give up. But I wanted to make my country and family proud. That passion took me here.”
Gertsch says his work with the Mongolian skiers is like a full-time job – and he estimates he has invested more than US$200,000 on the team so far.
“I had so much pleasure doing this sport when I was young,” he said. “Now it’s time for me to try to give the same pleasure to the youth. Why not? You cannot put money into your coffin. I’m proud of them. Their smiles are my salary. I don’t need any more.”
Team member Zolbayar Otgonlkhagva, a 17-year-old judoka-turned-skier, said: “It’s like I’m opening a new chapter in Mongolian sports history. I’m representing my country at the YOG and it feels so good.”
Source: Olympic Information Service
