Issyk-Kul Region (Kyrgyzstan) (AFP) – Gathering near Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan, athletes from 90 counties take part in the World Nomad Games, with sporting and intellectual events rooted in nomadic tradition. Among the disciplines on offer — alongside eagle hunting, wrestling and tug-of-war — is kok-boru, Kyrgyzstan’s national sport, which sees two teams on horseback battling for the headless carcass of a goat, vying to place it in the opposition goal. “It was hard,” says US kok-boru team member Afton Caldwell, after playing the host nation, “They are an amazing team.”
