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🇦🇺 Australia /Culture & Society

What are the World Nomad Games and why are Australians competing?

From ABC Australia · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • The World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan bring together about 100 countries across 43 traditional sporting events, including horseback archery, eagle hunting and Kok-boru.
  • Australia is competing in archery events, while the games have grown from a 2014 regional initiative into an international competition.
  • The event also helps Kyrgyzstan promote its nomadic heritage and build a national identity after the Soviet Union's collapse.

Sezim Jumabekova is already moving at speed when she draws her bow. Riding with her thighs gripping the horse, she twists at the waist and fires at three targets before the track ends.

The 29-year-old Kyrgyz competitor has ridden competitively for only three years. "I've fallen off many times and torn my clothes learning new tricks," she said. She is now competing in horseback archery at the World Nomad Games, held in Kyrgyzstan from August 31 to September 6.

Kyrgyzstan launched the games in 2014 to showcase traditional sports and cultures linked to Central Asia's nomadic peoples. The event has expanded from 20 countries and 10 sports to about 100 countries competing in 43 events. Alongside horseback archery are eagle and falcon hunting, Kok-boru, horseback wrestling for a sheep, long-distance horse racing and the Kyrgyz sport Er enish.

I've fallen off many times and torn my clothes learning new tricks.

· Sezim JumabekovaThe Kyrgyz horseback archery competitor described learning the sport.

Other contests take place on foot. Teams race to assemble a yurt, the portable dwelling used by nomadic families moving between pastures. In Ordo, competitors use sheep knucklebones to flick opposing pieces from a marked ring.

The games also have a national and economic dimension for Kyrgyzstan, which became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991. The country had been deeply integrated into the Soviet industrial system, including through a major factory that produced torpedoes for the Soviet navy. When the Soviet Union collapsed, those jobs disappeared. The games offer a way to present Kyrgyzstan's nomadic past to younger generations and international visitors, including competitors from Australia.

It's like AFL and the NRL here in Australia, but on horseback.

· Ahmed KharatThe Australian team's captain compared the traditional competitions with familiar Australian sports.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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