World Nomad Games

World Nomad Games (Kyrgyz: Дүйнөлүк көчмөндөр оюндары) are an international sport competition dedicated to ethnic sports practiced in Central Asia. The first three World Nomad Games were held in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan. The fourth games were held in Iznik, Turkey between September 29 and October 2, 2022.^[1] More than 3000 athletes from 102 countries participated in the events.^[2]

The person who launched and supported the World Nomad Games in 2014 at the highest state level is the President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev.^[3] Atambayev supported it in order to preserve and popularize the nomadic traditions of Central Asia.

The World Nomad Games have become a platform for demonstrating the cultural heritage, sports skills and traditional sports of nomadic nations, promoting the strengthening of cultural ties and mutual understanding between the peoples of different countries.^[4]

Atambayev personally led the Kyrgyz national team on the opening ceremony of the first World Nomad Games in 2014 and 2016 in order to popularize the event.

• Alysh (Kyrgyz: Алыш), a kind of belt wrestling
• Salburun (Kyrgyz: Салбурун), a sport mixing falconry, mounted archery and hunt assisted by Taigan
• Shagai
• Horse racing (At Chabysh), (Kyrgyz: Ат чабыш)
• Er enish, (Kyrgyz: Эр эңиш)
• Toguz korgool, (Kyrgyz: Тогуз коргоол)
• Kourach
• Kok-boru, a sport similar to Buzkashi, where riders fight for a goat carcass. (Kyrgyz: Көк бөрү); also called Kokpar in Kazakhstan.^[5]
• Mangala, a Turkish Mancala game, as well as other national variants

Ordo traditional game from Kyrgyzstan, throwing bones

Source:^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

Number	Year	Host Country	Host City	Sports
1	2014	Kyrgyzstan	Cholpon-Ata	10 + 4
2	2016	Kyrgyzstan	Cholpon-Ata	23
3	2018	Kyrgyzstan	Cholpon-Ata	37
4	2022	Turkey	Iznik	12 + 11
5	2024	Kazakhstan	Astana	20
6	2026	Kyrgyzstan	TBD	TBD

• The 2020 event was delayed until 2022 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11][12]
• The 2022 event was scheduled to include 44 sports but was later reduced to 12 sports + 11 exhibition sports.^[13][14]

Rank	Team	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Kyrgyzstan (KGZ)	81	77	79	237
2	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	40	46	52	138
3	Russia (RUS)	29	17	42	88
4	Turkmenistan (TKM)	28	8	21	57
5	Uzbekistan (UZB)	8	12	29	49
6	Iran (IRI)	6	8	16	30
7	Azerbaijan (AZE)	5	10	15	30
8	Hungary (HUN)	5	4	8	17
9	Ukraine (UKR)	3	7	10	20
10	Mongolia (MGL)	3	6	23	32
11	Turkey (TUR)	3	1	3	7
12	Tajikistan (TJK)	2	4	7	13
13	Georgia (GEO)	2	3	3	8
14	Serbia (SRB)	2	1	1	4
15	Antigua and Barbuda	2	0	1	3
16	Bashkortostan	1	3	6	10
17	Tatarstan	1	2	2	5
18	Slovakia (SVK)	1	2	0	3
19	China (CHN)	1	1	8	10
20	Lithuania (LTU)	1	0	5	6
21	Moldova (MDA)	1	0	4	5
22	Latvia (LAT)	1	0	2	3
23	Bulgaria (BUL)	1	0	1	2
	Germany (GER)	1	0	1	2
	United Arab Emirates (UAE)	1	0	1	2
26	United States (USA)	0	3	4	7
27	Armenia (ARM)	0	2	2	4
28	Poland (POL)	0	2	1	3
29	Ghana (GHA)	0	2	0	2
30	Argentina (ARG)	0	1	2	3
31	Ecuador (ECU)	0	1	1	2
	Estonia (EST)	0	1	1	2
33	Belarus (BLR)	0	0	2	2
	India (IND)	0	0	2	2
	South Korea (KOR)	0	0	2	2
36	Afghanistan (AFG)	0	0	1	1
	Brazil (BRA)	0	0	1	1
	Japan (JPN)	0	0	1	1
	Netherlands (NED)	0	0	1	1
	Norway (NOR)	0	0	1	1
	Singapore (SIN)	0	0	1	1
Totals (41 entries)		229	224	363	816

• Nomad

• Official website of the 2022 Games
• Official website of the 2018 Games
• Official promotional video, 2016 games, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
• World Nomad Games 2018 Kyrgyzstan
• worldnomadgames
• List of sports and disciplines
• CBS Sports on The World Nomad Games
• The Guardian
• DW News