Astana, Sep 8 (EFE).- The 5th World Nomad Games, a competition aimed at preserving the nomadic culture, kicked off Sunday in the Kazakh capital Astana in a large ceremony attended by 2,500 athletes from 90 countries.
Athletes are to compete until September 13 in 21 sports such as falconry, archery on foot or horseback, wrestling, martial arts, tug of war, the game of jacks, and mangala (a Turkish board game).
The first team to appear before the public was Kyrgyzstan, the country that hosted the first World Nomad Games.
Athletes from 19 countries participated in those first games, less than a quarter of the number of nations participating in the Kazakh capital.
Moreover, the Astana games includes for the first time countries without nomadic culture.
Athletes from across the Americas are also participating this year. American cowboys will compete with representatives from Brazil, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Barbados, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, and Uruguay.
The largest delegations participating in the 5th World Nomad Games are from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Mongolia, and Pakistan.
The smallest team is that of Switzerland which has one athlete.
For Kazakhstan, the cradle of nomadic culture, the World Nomad Games are as important as the Olympic Games for the world.
Cultural and humanitarian ties
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, speaking at the opening ceremony, said that the World Nomad Games are important to bring awareness to national sports and a healthy lifestyle. In addition, the event aims to expand cultural and humanitarian ties between kindred peoples, heirs of the nomadic civilization of the Great Steppe.
The games will include a horse marathon, which began on the eve of the inauguration and is to finish on the closing day, during which riders will cover 500 kilometers.
The marathon, which is to end in Astana and includes Arabian, Tatar, and Caucasian horses, among others, began in Botai, where humans are believed to have tamed horses 5,500 years ago.
The Kazakh hosts expect to compete for the medals with Mongolian and Kyrgyz athletes, once nomadic peoples, as well as Hungarians and Turks.
The winners in falconry are to take home 2,000 dollars, while gold medallists in other sports are to receive 1,000 dollars.
The games, which the Kazakh authorities plan to broadcast on television to viewers worldwide, are to conclude with a concert by the famous Kazakh singer Dimash Qudaibergen. EFE