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Kyrgyzstan is hosting the World Nomad Games this week, a biannual competition that brings together thousands of athletes from around the world to celebrate and compete in traditional nomadic sports, ranging from horseback wrestling to a fast-paced game involving a headless goat carcass.
This year's edition has drawn around 4,000 participants from 90 countries, many of them Westerners experiencing these centuries-old disciplines for the very first time.
The games are being held on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul, a vast mountain lake in northern Kyrgyzstan, where athletes are competing across dozens of disciplines, including intellectual board games and arm-wrestling.
Among the most prominent events is kok-boru, a horseback sport in which riders battle to gain control of a goat carcass and throw it into their opponent's goal.
Aidarkan Anarbekov, a forward for the Kyrgyzstan national team, said growing international interest in the sport could help it develop further, adding that organizers hope it will eventually reach world-class status.
Although kok-boru is not widely played outside Central Asia, it has attracted considerable interest from foreign competitors, many of whom are stepping onto the field for the first time.
Afton Caldwell, representing the United States, described it as an honor to compete against his opponents, even as his team was defeated 16-7 by the Kyrgyz side, the clear favorite heading into the match.
Alongside the sporting events, organizers have set up a nomadic fair at the venue, where visitors can sample samsas, savory meat-filled pastries typical of Central Asia, or take part in yurt-building workshops.
First launched in 2014, the World Nomad Games are held every two years, with the next edition scheduled to take place in Russia's Tatarstan region, while this year's competition is set to conclude Sunday.
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