Kazakhstan hosts 5th World Nomad Games with participants from more than 100 countries

Astana, Sep 7 (EFE).- The capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, is to host the 5th World Nomad Games starting Sunday, in which nearly 4,000 athletes from more than a hundred countries will participate.

“The Gathering of the Great Steppe” is the motto of the games, which expects to attract more than 100,000 tourists from September 8 to 13, according to the organizers.

Over the next six days, athletes will take part in 21 competitions, including falconry, archery on foot and horseback, wrestling, martial arts, tug of war, the game of Jacks, and Mangala (a Turkish board game) with 97 medals to be won.

In addition, there are several events with horses, very popular in Central Asia, such as kokpar and buzkashi, which includes the use of a goat's body.

The games include a horse marathon, which began on the eve of the inauguration and is to finish on the closing day during which riders cover 500 kilometers.

The marathon, which is to end in Astana and includes Arabian, Tatar, and Caucasian horses, among others, began in the town of Botai, where humans are believed to have tamed horses 5,500 years ago.

Kazakh athletes expect to compete for the medals with Mongolian and Kyrgyz athletes, once nomadic peoples, as well as Hungarians and Turks.

The winners in the falconry discipline are to take home 2,000 dollars, while gold medallists in other sports are to receive 1,000 dollars.

Organizers highlighted that athletes from countries such as Venezuela, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Ireland, and Ethiopia are to participate in the games for the first time.

The games, which the Kazakh authorities plan to broadcast on television to viewers around the world, are to conclude with a concert by the famous Kazakh singer Dimash Qudaibergen.

The World Nomad Games is an international project aimed at reviving and preserving the culture of the nomadic civilization.

The competition was founded on the initiative of the Central Asian Republic of Kyrgyzstan, a country that hosted the first Nomad Games in 2014 with 500 participants. EFE

kk-mos/jpd/lap

ASTANA, 07/09/2024.- The capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, is to host the 5th World Nomad Games starting Sunday, in which nearly 4,000 athletes from more than a hundred countries will participate. EFE/Kulpash Konyrova

ASTANA, 07/09/2024.- The capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, is to host the 5th World Nomad Games starting Sunday, in which nearly 4,000 athletes from more than a hundred countries will participate. EFE/Kulpash Konyrova