Mongolian Olympic official hails Beijing 2022 great success

ULAN BATOR, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics have been a great success amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior official of the Mongolian National Olympic Committee (MNOC) has said.

"I believe that the Winter Olympics were a great success and defeated the COVID-19 pandemic," Enkhbat Badar-Uugan, secretary-general of the MNOC, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Beijing 2022 was the most gender-balanced Winter Games ever and involved the largest number of women, making a history, Badar-Uugan said, expressing his thanks to the Chinese leadership and people for successfully organizing the Olympics at a difficult time of the pandemic.

Recalling the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, the former boxer said, "I am always happy when I visit Beijing. Fourteen years ago, Mongolian national anthem was played and national flag was hoisted there when I won a gold medal at the 29th Summer Olympic Games."

Badar-Uugan, the first Olympic boxing champion from Mongolia, said that It's one of the most memorable moments of his life.

Badar-Uugan won the gold medal in the Bantamweight (-54 kg) division at Beijing 2008.

"When I entered the Bird's Nest Stadium during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, that moment of 2008 felt like yesterday," said Badar-Uugan, who has been working in the MNOC since 2017.