Kok-Boru Tournament in Kyrgyzstan Becomes a Cultural Soft-Power Contest

Fourteen teams competed in Kyrgyzstan's President's Cup for kok-boru — horseback riders contesting a goat or calf carcass — in Cholpon-Ata, July 2026. The sport predates all modern Central Asian states. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan each promote their own variants, turning shared nomadic heritage into an informal contest over cultural authority and federation leadership.