Child contortionists stretch their abilities far and wide globally

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, Ulaanbaatar, 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.