AKIPRESS.COM - Victory at Mongolia's top wrestling contest brought Enkhtuvshingiin Oyunbold a Toyota Land Cruiser, and the title of "National Lion", reports Asia One.

At 22, Oyunbold is the youngest ever champion of the Mongolian National Naadam Wrestling Tournament, after he made it through nine rounds undefeated.

The importance of traditional wrestling – or "bokh" – in Mongolia cannot be overstated, and it is of one the country's 'three manly skills', along with archery and horsemanship.

For Mongolians throughout the vast steppe nation known as the land of the Eternal Blue Sky, wrestling is sport, entertainment, and a key topic of conversation and aspiration.

The pinnacle comes during the annual summer festival of Naadam, which Mongolians have celebrated for eight centuries.

Most Mongolian parents hope their baby boys will grow up to wrestle, believing the sport makes their men strong, patient and tolerant.

Most who participate also train in other varieties of grappling sports such as judo, freestyle wrestling and Japanese sumo.

More than 70 percent of Mongolian Olympic medallists are wrestlers, and all three current holders of the highest rank in Japanese sumo, yokozuna or grand champion, are Mongolian.

The tournament attracted 512 contestants this year.

The spiritual side of the sport most colourfully manifests itself when wrestlers perform a pre- and post-match "eagle" dance, flapping their arms in symbolic flight.