Bat-Ochiryn "Ziggy" Ser-OdTurnbull, Simon (19 April 2009)

'' The Independent''. Retrieved on 2011-04-26. ( mn, Бат-Очирын Сэр-Од, born 7 October 1981 in Gobi-Altai province) is a Mongolian

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who competes in road races, particularly the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

. He represented his country in the marathon at 5

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

in 2004, 2008, 2012 (where he also was flagbearer), 2016 and 2021. A member of the Morpeth Harriers running club, he divides his time between his native country and

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

in England. Ser-od began his international career in 2002 and has competed in the marathon at ten consecutive editions of the World Championships in Athletics since 2003. His best performance is 20th at the 2011 World Championships. He is Mongolia's first ever elite level marathon runner and his personal best of 2:08:50 is the Mongolian national record. He was the 2013 Asian Marathon Champion and also won the

Brighton Marathon The Brighton Marathon is an annual marathon in Brighton and Hove, England. It was first held on 18 April 2010 and has usually been held in April every year since. The inaugural Brighton Marathon was set up by former international athlete Tim Hu ...

and Hofu Yomiuri Marathon in 2010. Other career highlights include top ten finishes at the Berlin Marathon and London Marathon.

Career

Early competition

Ser-Od began participating in long-distance events in 2002.Morpeth Harrier Serod Batochir really is a long distance athletics star
. ''The Journal'' (25 April 2010). Retrieved on 2011-04-26. He made his international debut at the

2002 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 11th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held on May 5, 2002 in the city of Brussels, Belgium. A total of 198 athletes, 123 men and 75 women, from 60 countries took part. Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results were ...

and stepped up a distance to the marathon at the

2003 World Championships in Athletics The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Men's results ...

, where he came 63rd with a personal best of 2:26:39 hours.Bat-Ochir, Ser-Od

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 26 April 2011. He was twelfth at the 2004 Hong Kong Marathon, the third Asian to finish in a largely African field. He made his Olympic debut that year at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. He was just one of two Mongolians to compete in the athletics competition, alongside women's marathoner

Luvsanlkhündegiin Otgonbayar Luvsanlkhündegiin Otgonbayar, ( mn, Лувсанлхүндэгийн Отгонбаяр; born July 13, 1982) is a Mongolian athlete. She has represented her country by running the marathon at competitions such as the 2004 Summer Olympics, the ...

. Ser-Od came 75th overall with a time of 2:33:24 hours, some twenty minutes behind the winner. He ran his 2005 season's best in Ulaanbaatar in June before the 2005 World Championships, where he improved upon his previous placing by coming in 61st. He set a half marathon best of 1:08:12 in October, representing his country at the

2005 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 14th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships were held in Edmonton, Canada on 1 October 2005. The competition was replaced by the World Road Running Championships in 2006 and 2007, but revived as IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2008. ...

. With no world-level marathon events scheduled in 2006, he focused on Asian competition. He showed significant improvement at the Asian Marathon Championship, incorporated into that year's Beijing Marathon, as he was the sixth best Asian and knocked over six minutes off his best time, recording 2:20:13 hours. He did not perform as well at the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, however, as he came seventeenth in the Games marathon. He remained in East Asia in 2007, coming 55th at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka before making another large improvement at the Beijing Marathon, where he completed the distance in a time of 2:16:22 hours.

2008-2009: National records and move to Gateshead

He lined up for the Asian Marathon Championship race at the 2008 Hong Kong Marathon and demonstrated his progression by coming runner-up in the Asian category behind race winner Koichiro Fukuoka and taking fifth place in the international field. At the

Good Luck Beijing In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

Marathon, a test event for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, he cut two more minutes off his best to defeat all opposition and win the race in a Mongolian record time of 2:14:15 hours. He did not repeat this form at the Olympic marathon race in August, but his time and placing (52nd in 2:24:19) were his best performances yet on the international stage. His final race of the year came at December's Hofu Yomiuri Marathon, but his fast starting pace saw him drift back into sixth by the finish. His training in Mongolia was interrupted by the cold winter and, in April 2009, he travelled to

, United Kingdom to visit family. While there he came to an agreement with Morpeth Harriers, a local running club, to begin training with them. Ser-Od trained on a running track for the first time at the Gateshead International Stadium and said that the area's 10 km competitions were of particular benefit, given the rarity of races over that distance in East Asia.McGuirk, Bill (29 April 2010)
Serod Batochir coasts to glory in Brighton
. ''

Evening Chronicle The ''Evening Chronicle'', now referred to as ''The Comical'', is a daily newspaper produced in Newcastle upon Tyne covering North regional news, but primarily focused on Newcastle upon Tyne and surrounding area. The ''Comical'' is published by ...

''. Retrieved on 2011-04-26. Reflecting on the change, he said: "To train n Mongoliayou have to wear too many clothes, maybe four layers. Running is really hard then. In England it is different." He ran in a series of British races from April to August, building towards the upcoming 2009 World Championships in Berlin. He won 10K races in North Shields, Newton Aycliffe and Morpeth, as well as placing top three in half marathons in Redcar and Mansfield. A 10K best of 30:08 minutes came at Gateshead's

Great North 10K The Great North 10K, styled as the Simplyhealth Great North 10K for sponsorship purposes, is a 10K road run, which has been called "the North East's biggest 10K running event", with over 5,000 people taking part. It is part of the Great Run serie ...

, where he was seventh.Serod Batochir
Power of 10. Retrieved on 27 April 2011. The change of location resulted in a rise in the rankings in the World Championships Marathon in Berlin, as he finished in the top thirty for the first time, completing the course in 2:17:22 hours. He was selected to run on the track at the

2009 Asian Athletics Championships The 18th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, China in 2009. Results Men's results Track Field Women's results Track Field Medal table Participating nations * (12) * (1) * ...

and he came twelfth in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

(14:47.01 minutes) and set a track best of 29:43.79 minutes for ninth place in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

. His best marathon time of the year came at the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon, where he was the best non-Japanese, finishing seventh in 2:17:19 hours.

2010-2011: London and Berlin Marathons

He was highly active in the marathon in 2010: he was third at the Hong Kong Marathon in February, and came fifth at the Zhengzhou Marathon with a time of 2:17:01 hours in March. He was initially invited to the

2010 London Marathon The 2010 London Marathon was the 30th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 25 April. The elite men's race was won by Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede in a time of 2:05:19 hours and the elite women's ...

in April, but the organisers rescinded their invitation upon discovering he had run the full distance just three weeks before the event. Having already arrived in England, he sought out a place at the inaugural

instead and won the competition by a five-minute margin. He received an invitation for the

2010 Berlin Marathon The 37th Berlin Marathon took place on Sunday 26 September 2010 on the streets of Berlin, Germany. The competition was sponsored by German retailer ''real,-'' and it was the third World Marathon Major of the year, as well as being an IAAF Gold Labe ...

and performed well in his first

World Marathon Majors The World Marathon Majors (WMM) (known for sponsorship reasons as the Abbott World Marathon Majors) is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on six major marathon races recog ...

event, finishing in tenth place with a time of 2:12:42 – a new national record. In his fifth outing over the distance that year, he won the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon, succeeding on his third attempt in a time of 2:14:49 (the third best performance of his career). Ser-od's 2011 season started at the Northern 12-Stage Road Relay, where he led off the Morpeth Harriers team which went on to take the title. The

2011 London Marathon The 2011 London Marathon was the 31st running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 17 April. The elite men's race was won by Kenya's Emmanuel Kipchirchir Mutai in a course record time of 2:04:40 hours and ...

was his first major race of the year and he again had a top ten placing, taking ninth place in 2:11:35 hours to improve his best time a minute further. He finished in the top ten of both the 5000 m and 10,000 m at the

2011 Asian Athletics Championships The 19th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Kobe, Japan between July 7–10, 2011 at the Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium. The tournament had 507 athletes from forty Asian nations competing in the 42 track and field events over the four- ...

, then went on to have his best global marathon finish at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

, finishing in 20th place. Two months later, he came sixth at the Beijing Marathon. In 2011 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon in Japan he defended his title as winner running for 2:11:56 hours improving his time by 2 minutes and 53 seconds than the previous year.

2012 Olympic Games

He was runner-up in his first race of 2012 Beppu-Oita Marathon, setting a new best of 2:11:05 behind

Harun Njoroge Harun, also transliterated as Haroon or Haroun ( ar, هارون, ) is a common male given name of Arabic origin, related to the Hebrew name of the Prophet Aaron. Both are most likely of Ancient Egyptian origin, from ''aha rw'', meaning "warrior l ...

. He ran within the course record time at the Brighton Marathon, but finished fourth in a fast race. He represented his country at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London and finished in 51st position in the marathon. He was also selected as national flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Ser-Od ended the year with a win at the

Osaka Marathon The is an annual marathon road running event for non-elite men and elite and non-elite women over the classic distance of 42.195 kilometres which is held in late October in the city of Osaka, Japan. There is also a "challenge run" with a dis ...

in a course record time of 2:11:52.

After 2012

His first outings of 2013 did not bode well: he was 18th at the Beppu-Oita Marathon, 15th at the Hong Kong Marathon, and eleventh at the Daegu Marathon. In spite of this, he performed reasonably well at the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013) () was an international athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10–18 August 2013. Initially, Russia won the most gold medals to top the table for the first time since 200 ...

, coming in 35th place. At the

2013 East Asian Games The 2013 East Asian Games, officially known as the VI East Asian Games, was an international multi-sport event that took place in Tianjin, China, between 6 October and 15 October 2013. 2,422 Athletes from nine East Asian nations competed in 254 eve ...

he was the silver medallist in the 5000 m. His best marathon outing followed later that month as he was second at the Osaka Marathon in 2:13:31 hours. A good result for Ser-Od came at the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games ( ko, 2014년 아시아 경기대회/2014년 아시안 게임, Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 17th Asian Games ( ko, 제17회 아시아 경기대회/제17회 ...

, where he placed 4th in the men's marathon, running the distance in 2:13:21. Just months later, Ser-Od built on his Asian Games success with his personal-best and national-record time of 2:08:50, at the Fukuoka Marathon in December 2014. Ser-Od participated in both the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

held in Beijing and the

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: * 17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japane ...

held in London, placing respectively 38th and 48th in the marathon events. Ser-Od participated in the

2019 World Championships in Athletics The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held betw ...

in Doha, Qatar where he finished 54th in 2:36:01 in the men's marathon. In 2020 he contested 1 marathon, placing 24th in 2:16:15 at the Fukuoka Marathon. On the track Ser-Od set Mongolian national records in both the 5000m and 10000m in 14:16.48 and 29:17.72 respectively. In 2021 Ser-Od ran The 76th Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon in Japan, where he finished 33rd in a time of 2:09:26. This was Ser-Od's third-fastest marathon performance and it qualified him for his 5th Olympic Games."Athlete Profile Ser-Od Bat-Ochir." World Athletics
www.worldathletics.org/ athletes/mongolia/batochir-serod-14867157
Accessed 15 June 2021. Ser-Od Bat-Ochir is expected to compete in the men's marathon at the

2020 Tokyo Olympic Games The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in August 2021. In 2022 Ser-Od participated in the

2022 World Championships in Athletics The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the fi ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

. This was his tenth appearance in a marathon at a World Championship and he finished all these races.

Statistics

International competition

Personal bests

* 5,000 m (track) - 14:16.48 (2020) * 10,000 m (track) – 29:17.72 min (2020) * 10 km (road) – 28:55 min (2016) * 20 km (road) - 58:55.00 (2016) * Half marathon – 1:02:10 hrs (2016) * 30 km (road) - 1:30:53 (2015) * Marathon – 2:08:50 hrs (2014)

References

External links