Kyrgyzstan Won the Horseback Final Twelve-Nil and Kazakhstan Still Finished With More Gold Medals
The sixth World Nomad Games closed at Lake Issyk-Kul on 6 September with 109 countries, a record for the event.
The sixth World Nomad Games closed on 6 September. The opening ceremony was in Bishkek and the competition ran at Cholpon-Ata on the northern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul.
Over 3,000 athletes from 109 countries competed across 42 traditional disciplines, a record turnout for the event.
The closing fixture was the kok boru final, played at the Kok-Boru Arena. Kyrgyzstan beat Kazakhstan 12-0, with Baytegin Omorbekov, Ernazar Koshumbaev, Mirbek Mukashev and Anarbek uulu Seitbek among the third-period scorers. Russia took bronze. Kyrgyzstan also won the kokpar final 7-2 over Kazakhstan, with Russia beating Uzbekistan 5-4 for bronze, completing a home sweep of the mounted team events.
The overall table did not follow. Kazakhstan finished with 72 medals including 32 golds; Kyrgyzstan with 77 medals including 30.
Debutant nations included Afghanistan, Cape Verde, Barbados, Croatia and Brunei, the only Southeast Asian entrant.
More than 600 cultural events ran alongside, plus a conference on nomadic civilisations drawing researchers from 21 countries. Kyrgyzstan has now hosted four of the six editions. The next is in Kazan in 2028.