Traditional sports celebrated at World Nomad Games

CGTN Europe

The 2024 World Nomad Games in the Kazakh capital Astana saw more than 2,500 athletes from 89 different countries compete in 21 sports.   The games aim to promote ethnic sports and culture, as CGTN’s Natalie Carney reports.

Transcript

00:00Some have referred to this event as the Olympics of Central Asia, but here you won't find track

00:07and field, figure skating or breakdancing for that matter.

00:11Instead, the World Nomad Games feature traditional ethnic sports and games played by the nomadic

00:17people that have been traversing these lands for centuries.

00:21However, over the years, even more stationary cultures have started taking an interest in

00:27these somewhat unique sports.

00:30The ancient game of Khokpar dates back, some say, to Genghis Khan's early 13th century

00:37mounted warriors.

00:38But in more recent years, and in part thanks to the Nomad Games, cowboys from the United

00:44States have taken up the sport.

00:462016 World Nomad Games, we were invited by the U.S. Embassy in the Kyrgyz.

00:51Friends who know friends at the embassy said we can bring cowboys that can play.

00:54The horses are bridged between the two cultures.

00:57Since the first Nomad Games in 2014 in Kyrgyzstan, the competition has grown from just 583 participants

01:05to over 2,500 coming from 89 different countries competing in 21 sports at six venues across

01:13the Kazakh capital.

01:15Another popular sport here in the games is the powerful Nomad, essentially the strongest

01:20man competition where men carrying the heaviest weight try to lift the highest, pull the farthest

01:26and last the longest.

01:28There are five disciplines including carrying of a 100-kilogram stone, throwing a 10-kilogram

01:35javelin and lifting a 130-kilogram log on their shoulders.

01:40Chinese strongman Dan Yi did quite well, but hopes more people from his country will compete

01:46in future Nomad Games.

01:49I hope more Chinese people will like power and sports.

01:54China is very strong, so I hope the world will see China's strength.

02:02Traditional folk games are taking place in Astana's Alau Ice Palace sports stadium, such

02:07as Asik Atul, where players try to knock out from a circle Asiks, literally the dried knee

02:13joints of a sheep or a ram.

02:16The player who knocks out eight Asiks first becomes the winner.

02:47Some of the sports here are seen in many cultures, such as archery and the familiar tug-of-war,

02:56but the games aren't only about physical capacities, but also intellectual strength.

03:02The World Nomad Games are held every two years, with each competition adding more and more

03:08disciplines and athletes, as nomadic cultures come together as one.

03:13Natalie Carney for CGTN, in Astana.

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