Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, June 23, 2025: Young and old came together in a joyous union to celebrate the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games Fun Run in Mongolia on Monday, June 23.
Over 200 students from schools in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, all on summer holidays, joined hands with famous Mongolian Olympians at the National Park, as the fifth overseas leg of the Olympic Council of Asia Fun Run heralding the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games next September.
“We invited a number many of our Olympians to join us in celebrating this Fun Run and I’m glad to say all of them responded and turned up,” said Mongolian National Olympic Committee Secretary General Enkhbat Badar-Uugan who also took part in the 3.7 kilometre run.
“I started slowly but then finished strongly,” laughed Badar-Uugan, one of only two Olympic gold medallists for Mongolia. He won a gold medal in bantamweight at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Among the other Olympians who turned up was Davaadalai Aravdan, bronze medallist in judo at the 1980 Moscow Games; Sereeter Danzandarjaa, bronze medallist in wrestling at the 1968 Mexico Games; and seven-time Olympian Gundegmaa Otryad, and silver medallist at the 2008 Beijing Games.
“It wasn’t hard, but the sun was out and it was very hot,” smiled Otgondalai Dorjnyambun, bronze medallist in boxing at the Rio 2016 Olympics, and Chair of the MNOC Athletes Committee.
A colourful exhibition of taekwondo and breakdancing heralded the Fun Run, which follows legs in Bhutan, Tajikistan, Brunei and Uzbekistan.
The OCA is expected to hold around 30 Asian Games for All campaigns across Asia to promote the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games from September 19 to October 4, 2026.
“I welcome all of you to turn up in Aichi-Nagoya next year. It will be a memorable event,” said Yasuhiro Inomata, Deputy Director General of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organising Committee.
The OCA’s Wissam Trkmani, Director NOC Relations and Development Programme, said: “We are very grateful to the Mongolian National Olympic Committee for arranging this Fun Run, the Asian Youth Reporter project and the Art competition. We can always rely on the MNOC to do a good job.”
“We have had Fun Runs for the last three Asian Games starting from Incheon 2014, Jakarta and Palembang 2018, and Hangzhou 2022. Now Aichi-Nagoya 2026. We are happy to be involved with the OCA and the Asian Games organisers,” said Bayartuya Bayarsaikhan, MNOC Head of International Relations.
