Astana, Casaquistau – Nuvens de poeira Above the single sand pitch in the stadium where a group of horses converge, their riders with stirrups pointing their mounts at the alvo estranho: a headless carcaça and the outline of a ditada goat in poeira.
It appears to be a multi-legged, swirling creature with hooves, tails, heads and human spines, the Cavaliero is able to lift and carry the carcass on its leg, running towards the goal with two teams of seven Cavaliero each chasing it. The others – some to protect it and some to thwart it, cost or what cost. The scooping up of broken fingers and jaws is very real.
This is not a movie, but a game of Kokpar, a horse sport known and practiced throughout Central Asia, and an exciting climax to this year's edition of the Quintos Mundiais Nômades Games, which ended on September 13.
The 5th edition of the World Nomad Games, created in the future capital of Kazakhistan, Astana, is a celebration of sport, culture and unity of the nomadic peoples of the Turkic states of Asia.
The semi-annual event began 10 years ago in Cholpon-Ata, not Kyrgyzstan, with 30 countries taking part, after former Kyrgyzstan president Almazbek Atambayev suggested the games would be a good way to showcase the region's culture in an era of rapid globalization.
“We are descendants of wise and brave nomads who were able to preserve their unique identity and give us the great civilization of Estebe,” said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, president of Casaquistao, at the grand opening of the two games on September 8. “We must cherish this sacred heritage and pass it on to future generations.”
Tokayev also addressed the suffering in other parts of the world, particularly in Gaza, while at the same time emphasizing the role of the Games in strengthening friendships between nations, in the same way that The Olympic Games recently concluded..
In the same way that France used the Olympics to show Paris and French culture to the world, or Casaquistao took advantage of the first World Nomad Games to show the origins of the Casaquistao steppe, symbolizing the peaceful union of two nomadic empires that passed under one tradition. Nomadic yurt.
“three games of homens”
This year's event, or the first one held in Casaquista, was perhaps the most recent, with more than 2,000 athletes from 89 countries, from Angola to Argentina, Hungary to Sweden, Turkmenistan to Zimbabwe, taking part.
Everyone will come together to participate in 21 traditional games that trace their roots back to the “Three Two-Man Games” (archery, wrestling, and horse wrestling), which will test the skills of two people who will rule the plains of Inner Asia for thousands of years, two silk merchants from the Golden Horde that preceded the Kanato hunt in the 15th century.
In addition to the game, some of the most interesting games were the daring games, a horse fighting competition where the athlete must fight with his opponent to get rid of the horse, but also the hunting game with birds of prey (golden eagles, hawks and falcões) whose speed of sound was validated by launching them into the isca or counting the amount of time it took for the bird to reach the isca in his hand.
There were also several different styles of freestyle wrestling, such as the local Qazak Qarishi and Kurash, which were performed entirely on foot, as well as the Bedouin strongman competition, which included weightlifting, dart throwing challenges and the pushing of a 200 kg (440 lb) car boy bella or noa e hair muscle.
Games are also dedicated to sports to include strategies such as Togyzkumalak, a tabolero game where the player defeats the queue or the greater number of stones, live presentations of aitys, improvised musical duels and the popular poetry of hunting and sniping Quirguistão which became part of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2015.
The Kazakhs won the games with a total of 112 medals, including 43 gold, followed by Kyrgyzstan with 65 medals and Russia with 49, but there were several surprises.
Betty Fock, an Italian judoka and member of the Italian Fundação Qazak Quresi, secured Italy's only gold medal, the first in Jogos Nômades, in the traditional free combat of Cazaquistão.
Other winning nations include Hungary – which won multiple medals, including gold, ahead of Turkey, India, China and Turkmenistan – in Rome, Poland, Moldova, France and Australia, highlighting the growing appeal of two traditional Central Asian games and martial arts around the world.
With the 2026 edition returning to Kyrgyzstan, future Games could take place outside the steppe.
“Maybe in 2030 or 2032 it will be possible to host the Nômades World Games in North America because we have common points. (…) Our geography should expand and become a global project that will receive more attention,” said Deputy Minister of Social Communications for Tourism and Sport Hunting, Zaharsbayev Serik Maratovich. “We want to promote our Games and we ask everyone to help spread the word about them.”
Not a goat in the field, but a drunk goat, but a dead animal is the norm in a sport that has slightly different names depending on where it is practiced.
It was Cazaquistão who emerged as the final winner of the kokpar tournament, going home or facing Quirguistão.
