World Nomad Games: From horseback kissing to goat flinging - in pictures

UAE athletes join 3,000 competitors from across the region to take part in Kyrgyzstan's World Nomad Games

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Competitors have gathered in Kyrgyzstan for the third World Nomad Games, a competition dedicated to traditional sports in central Asia.

UAE athletes joined international teams for a series of events celebrating Kyrgyz culture after an opening ceremony on Sunday night attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban.

A favourite among the 40 events taking place at Issyk-Kul lake in Cholpon-Ata is kyz-kuu, where a horseman tries to kiss a female equestrian as he storms past her.

The main event though is kok-boru, which sees riders try to pick up a goat or calf carcass before flinging it into a goal.

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