Kyrgyzstan’s Nomad Games bring traditional sports to global stage

In a remote gorge in northern Kyrgyzstan, athletes from more than 100 countries gathered this week to compete in traditional nomad sports ranging from horseback archery and wrestling to falconry and board games.

The Nomad Games, held every two years, have grown since their inaugural edition in 2014, drawing more than 3,000 athletes to Kyrgyzstan this year, organisers said.

The mountainous Central Asian country of seven million was the birthplace of the games and retains a strong popular following for many of the sports, which have deep roots across the region.

“These games have the nomadic spirit,” said Mumina Daminova, a horseback archer from Uzbekistan, who competed in flowing white traditional robes.

“It’s like Olympic games but for ethnosport,” she said.

The event also attracts competitors from countries without a history of nomadism, including Britain, whose athletes took part in horseback archery and tug of war.

London-based executive coach Becca Sweetman has competed in horseback archery for the Great Britain team for the past eight years, after a friend introduced her to the sport.

“About eight years ago a friend asked if I wanted to have a go at horseback archery and I just got hooked on this amazing sport,” she said.

Sam Pollard, a London-based consultant, joined Britain’s tug of war team after becoming interested in the games through videos of Kok Boru, a nomadic sport similar to polo that uses a sheep carcass instead of a ball.

“That looks awesome,” he said, adding that the timing of the games also suited his plans to visit Central Asia.

While international participation has expanded, the games remain particularly significant in countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and the other Central Asian republics, where traditional nomadic sports continue to draw large followings.

The opening ceremony in Bishkek was attended by leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and India’s Narendra Modi, who were in the Kyrgyz capital for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

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