Stretching for success: young Mongolian contortionists have worldwide fame within their reach

Nine-year-old Mongolian schoolgirl Suvd-Erdene spends four hours a day perfecting the art of doing a headstand on a pole clenched with her teeth and push-ups without her feet touching the ground.

She and about a dozen team mates are training in a basement in the capital, Ulan Bator, to be contortionists, a revered art that Mongolians say was developed in the palace of 13th century warlord and national hero Genghis Khan.

Usually performed by females, the discipline involves twisting and stretching the body to the extreme.

The diminutive Suvd-Erdene makes the moves look easy having completed years of gruelling training that began with intensive stretching exercises when she was six.

“I cried when my teacher made me do the stretching exercises, at that time I felt really discouraged,” she said.