International Master G.Ganzorig is a well-known figure among those involved in the sport of shooting. Since his days as an athlete, he has generously contributed to the development of this sport. During the years he worked as a coach, he trained many professional shooters for the country. When he graduated from School No. 11 in Sukhbaatar District in 1973, his father advised him to take up shooting, which led him to embark on his athletic career. After several years of training and winning major domestic competitions, he became an athlete of the Aldar Sports Committee and was included in the second national team.

The year that brought a major change to his sports career was 1977. From that time on, he began achieving success and became widely recognized for his skills, competing in international, continental, and world competitions and joining the ranks of top shooters. 

 

It is said that your father’s advice greatly influenced your decision to take up shooting. What words of his have remained with you?

 

My father was a physical education teacher. He had noticed that I rarely missed when I aimed and shot at things. When I graduated from the eighth grade, he told me, “You have a calm temperament suitable for shooting. When you commit yourself to something, you seem like the kind of person who will pursue it to the end.” His words attracted my interest and greatly influenced my decision to enter this sport. My father knew the shooting coaches, and they were friendly and close acquaintances. At that time, the national shooting team athletes were coached by M.Jantsankhorloo. After training for one year, I participated in the National Championship in 1974 for the first time and won a silver medal.

At that time, eighth-grade students who attended the shooting section were selected for the national team and were exempted from regular classes so they could train. They studied in evening classes and completed their 10th-grade education. In the early days, shooting athletes trained with rifles from the 1950s. During our time, technology was not as advanced as it is today, so it was difficult to obtain a good rifle. Therefore, members of the national team who participated in international competitions were provided with relatively good rifles, while the second team trained with whatever was available. In 1978, after seeing a long rifle manufactured in West Germany, our training and skills improved.

 

Among the athletes who trained with you, who practiced consistently for many years?

 

At that time, a team consisted of four athletes. From the national team, S.Adilbish, S.Enkhjargal, and I trained together for many years. We later ended our athletic careers, became coaches, and worked until we retired. We competed in the 60-shot prone long-rifle event. Because shooting with live ammunition became rare, athletes began to train more in the long-rifle discipline. A box of ammunition was expensive, and economically it was difficult. Therefore, air rifles began to be used more frequently and were included as one of the shooting competition disciplines. Recently, many young people have started training with long rifles, and among them there are quite a few talented shooters.

 

What thoughts did you have on the first day you began training in shooting?

 

It seemed very interesting. The coach tested me by asking me to shoot three shots, but they hit different places. He said, “Well, it seems possible,” and accepted me. Fortunately, I improved quickly and that same year participated in a major domestic competition and scored 97 points, taking first place. At the 1974 National Championship, S.Adilbish won first place and I finished second. Since we were athletes of nearly the same generation, we competed closely with each other.

Coach M.Jantsankhorloo, while working as a trainer, also formed a team with the three of us in competitions. The Mongolian national team participated in a competition held in Germany in 1978, where we won our first team medal. Personally, in that competition I won a gold medal in the team event and silver in the individual event in the 60-shot prone event. At that time, I had been training for five years. Usually, athletes need about 10 years of consistent training to achieve success and win medals in such major competitions. Thanks to the guidance of a good coach and our hard training, we achieved success in a relatively short period of time.

 

It is said that the Mongolian shooters winning the team title at the Ninth Asian Games held in Delhi, India in 1982 attracted the attention of many countries. You were one of the athletes who participated in that competition.

 

At the Ninth Asian Games, our team performed successfully and won a gold medal, while I received a silver medal in the individual event. Among the Asian countries where shooting sports were highly developed, China had the best shooters. After them came Japan, South Korea, and North Korea, which usually placed second and third. I missed the gold medal by only two points. In the team event, we competed against the Japanese athletes for the championship in the long-rifle discipline.

The team competition shows how well a country prepares its athletes in shooting sports. Our three teammates scored 592 points, and I scored 594, which allowed the Mongolian team to win by two points. When Mongolian shooters advanced to the finals of the Asian Games, the Chinese team was very surprised and at first did not believe it. At that time, we had not even been considered likely contenders for medals. From then on, many countries began to recognize the skill of Mongolian athletes. Winning the Asian Games for the first time and opening a new chapter in the history of Mongolian shooting sports was a major event. It demonstrated that our country had reached the level of strong competition within the continent.

 

Many young people today do not know much about how the national team participated in international competitions at that time. We have heard from veteran athletes that it was a difficult journey to achieve success.

 

When we participated in foreign competitions, we did not have special clothing that met international standards. You could see the difference between athletes from cities and those from rural areas. It was something like that for us as well. During competitions, we wore cotton jackets, velvet trousers, and ski boots. Since competitions were held in the summer, shooting in thick clothing made us extremely hot and sweat would pour down. When we saw foreign athletes, we would think with envy, “When will we have rifles and clothing like theirs?”

Because resources were scarce, sometimes we had rifles but could not find ammunition. When we went to international competitions, we tried to bring ammunition with us. Each bullet was counted as two, so the 75 bullets required for the competition were recorded as 150 when we received them. However, we did not use them for training and only used them in competitions. Even though ammunition was scarce, the rifles were not modern, and we had no specialized clothing, we still competed well. Today, one of the main reasons for athletes’ success is that they have proper clothing, high-quality branded rifles, and sufficient support.

 

At that time Mongolia was not open with some countries, so it is said that when athletes went abroad to competitions, a person from the ministry in charge of protection of society always accompanied them to monitor them. Is that true?

 

Yes. Among Asian countries, Mongolia had politically unfavorable relations with China at that time. Therefore, members of the national team were not allowed to give interviews to foreign journalists or take photos with athletes from other countries. However, when the Mongolian team won at the 9th Asian Games, journalists covering the competition asked for interviews. I said, “The Mongolian team came with only one goal, which is to win. Each of us shot for the sake of the team. By shooting accurately without missing our shots, we became champions as a team.” That statement remains a memorable moment.

Since then, at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou, the Mongolian men’s 3×3 basketball national team defeated South Korea 21:20 and won a bronze medal. This became the second medal Mongolia has won in a team sport at the Asian Games. Previously, at the 8th Asian Games held in Thailand in 1978, we had finished fifth place in the team event. That year, athletes from Japan, China, South Korea, and North Korea placed in the top three positions.

 

It is said that you had the opportunity to win the individual event at the Ninth Asian Games. What affected your mindset when you were leading in points?

 

I had a chance to win the gold medal, but I made several mistakes while shooting my final 10 shots. When I turned around to check whether I was still leading, I saw more than 30 photographers behind me taking pictures. At that moment I realized, “I must be in first place.” I became excited and began missing shots—10, nine, 10, nine. When four shots remained, I told myself, “If I miss now, I might finish without a medal.” I concentrated and managed to secure second place. If I had not turned around or celebrated too early, I might have returned home with two gold medals.

 

There are stories that shooting was almost excluded from the sports to participate in the continental games at that time. Could you elaborate?

 

At that time, Lieutenant General J.Jamiyan explained the situation to the Ardiin Ikh Khural and promised that our shooting team would become champions. He said, “If they fail to win, you may take appropriate measures.” He waited until 4:00 in the morning to secure approval for the team to participate in the Asian Games.

He established the Central Club for Shooting Sports. The members of the khural agreed to let the team compete but warned that if we returned without a medal, we would not be allowed to participate again.

We went to India with a big responsibility to win medals. If we had returned empty-handed, the future of shooting sports in Mongolia might have changed. We fulfilled our duty and returned proudly, raising our country’s name internationally and paving the way for future Mongolian long-rifle athletes. My father expressed his pride simply, “Well done, my son. Work even harder. Success in sports comes within a short period of life, so make the most of it.”

 

After graduating from the eighth grade and starting shooting, did you really not have the opportunity to continue studying?

 

Yes, I did not have that opportunity. Instead, I studied gold and silver smithing at a vocational technical school. At that time they kept saying, “You will join the national team after graduating.” In the end, I earned my living not through my profession but through sports.

Being selected for the national team was rare. Since I was an athlete of the Aldar Sports Committee, I belonged to the second national team, while S.Adilbish and S.Enkhjargal were in the first national team. From 1977 to 1990, I represented the committee and won many medals in domestic and international competitions.

 

Did you practice athletics before shooting?

 

Yes. I first competed in the four-event athletics competition and began my sports career by winning a bronze medal, but later devoted myself to shooting. I achieved most success in the 50-meter prone 60-shot long-rifle event, where I held the national record. In a domestic competition in 1984, I scored 599 out of 600 points and won.

Today’s shooters often win or lose by extremely small margins. When we were on the national team, we were also asked to coach younger athletes. At that time, the current two-time Olympic bronze medalist D.Munkhbayar was still a student beginning her training in shooting.

Earlier, T.Myagmarjav won Mongolia’s first shooting medal at the Asian Games—a bronze in the 50-meter small-caliber pistol event at the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran. He also competed in the 1972 Munich and 1980 Moscow Olympics and was later awarded the title of Honored Coach of Mongolia.

 

Did you ever find shooting difficult and consider quitting?

 

At first it was difficult, and for a while I played volleyball. After failing in a shooting competition in 1975, my interest declined. In 1976, when athletes were preparing for training related to the Montreal Olympics, I kept avoiding it.

One day, while playing volleyball at the Khudulmur Sports hall, Coach T.Myagmarjav saw me. Later he told my father that they wanted me to join the Olympic training camp but I kept avoiding it. After my father spoke to me, I returned to shooting and joined the national team’s Olympic training. From then on, I trained seriously and never looked back.

 

One of the athletes you coached, Ts.Munkhzul, became a continental and world champion and received the title of Honored Athlete. How did you discover her potential?

 

My last competition as an athlete was the National Spartakiad in 1987, and from 1991 to 1999 I worked as a coach. During that time I trained many long-rifle athletes for domestic and international competitions.

One of them was Honored Athlete Ts.Munkhzul. Her father, T.Tsogbadrakh, was a close friend of mine and also practiced shooting, but he passed away in a car accident. Wanting to continue his legacy, I decided to train one of his daughters.

Ts.Munkhzul began training under my guidance in 1992 and continued until she achieved the title of International Master of Sports. At first she was not very interested and sometimes skipped training, but with support from her family she continued. Eventually she won international medals, became a continental and world champion, and received the Honored Athlete of Mongolia title. She now works as a coach at the Khuch Sports Committee. Many other athletes I trained have also become coaches.

 

Did any of your children follow your path in shooting?

 

I have three sons and one daughter, and a large family with three grandsons and two granddaughters. My children work in their own professions. Since I know how difficult an athlete’s life can be, I never forced them to pursue sports. I always told them, “I respect your interests. If you truly want to pursue sports, I will support you.”

My wife and I studied in the same class until the eighth grade, so we have known each other since childhood. During my years as an athlete and coach, my family supported me greatly. When I was busy with competitions, my wife managed the household and raised our children. I am very proud of her and believe that the love and support of my family helped me overcome many challenges in life.