The world’s only multi-sport event dedicated to the promotion of traditional sports, The World Nomad Games (WNG), was held for the fourth time after a four-year gap. This year it was accommodated by its first-time host, Turkey, the three earlier events having taken place in Kyrgyzstan (2014, 2016 and 2018).
It took place in a vast area next to the remote historic lake town of Iznik, 90km from Istanbul, and welcomed over 3,000 athletes, and reportedly over a million visitors, over the four-day period (29 September to 2 October). I received the news that my place at the games had been confirmed whilst training in South Korea. It was an honour and a privilege to have been selected as the only UK representative across the 40+ sports this year.
OVERVIEW: SPORTS PROGRAMME
Only all things traditional are allowed — from traditional practices right down to traditional footwear. Archery is just one segment of the sports programme. This year’s event focussed on three key segments: horse competitions, national wrestling, and traditional archery. Three traditional archery sports were represented: traditional target archery; puta target (70m male,
