ULAN BATOR, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The organizing committee of Mongolia's national holiday of Naadam has suspended several traditional wrestlers from this year's Naadam Festival after they failed a doping test, the Mongolian government press office said on Monday.
During a tournament in December, the National Anti-Doping Center of Mongolia randomly gave doping tests to 31 wrestlers, of whom four were found to have violated Mongolia's anti-doping regulations.
The Naadam Festival, which features on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage, is the most important event for Mongolian traditional wrestlers, who can only attain rank during this festival.
There are many titles for the Mongolian traditional wrestlers, such as Titan, Lion, Elephant, Garuda and Falcon. A wrestler who wins five fights in succession during Naadam becomes known as Falcon, and a seven-fight winner takes the title of Elephant. The title of Lion is bestowed on the winner of the entire festival, and a two-time festival winner becomes known as Titan.
Naadam literally means "games" in the Mongolian language. The festival features Mongolia's three major male sporting competitions of horse racing, archery and wrestling.
This year's Naadam Festival will be held from July 11 to 15.
