Iran claims 4 more medals at World Nomad Games

Iranian athletes have kept up their fine performance at the second edition of World Nomad Games, which is currently underway in Kyrgyzstan, and collected four more medals.

On Monday, Iranian wrestler Hadi Vafaei stole the show during the men’s 90-kilogram Aba Kurosh bouts on the shores of Lake Issyk Kul in eastern Kyrgyzstan, and fetched the gold medal for the Islamic Republic, Federation of Rural Sports and Nomadic Games of the Islamic Republic of Iran website reported.

Iranian Aba Kurosh wrestler, Abolfazl Barbat, grabbed another gold medal in men's over 90-kilogram weight category.

In men's 80-kilogram weight section, Iran's Aba Kurosh wrestler Mehdi Fayzi took the bronze medal.

Aba Kurosh is one of the oldest forms of Turkish wrestling, and one of the first to have special clothing. 

It was used as specialized military training for fighters, and involves different holds on the clothing or the body of one’s opponent.

There are many different styles of Aba Kurosh, which involve legs and throws while holding the belt or jacket.

The goal of the game is to throw one’s opponent on his shoulders. The wrestlers arrive to the mat in short capes with slots for hands, or in jackets made of sheepskin.

Also on Monday, an Iranian goresh wrestler claimed the bronze medal in men's 80-kilogram division.

The Turkmen national wrestling goresh is a kind of wrestling on belts that has ancient roots, and dates back to as early as the 3rd century BC. Wrestlers need to earn points by forcing the opponent to touch the mat with any part of the body except a foot.

Goresh competitions are staged in four formats, namely round, shootout, mixed and team.

During the round format contests, athletes compete with all wrestlers in the same weight category. If there are many wrestlers in one weight division, the participants are divided into two groups. Wrestlers who earn the first and second places in each group will be in action for the final showdowns.

Wrestlers are eliminated from the rest of the competition once they lose in the shootout format.

In the mixed format, wrestlers start with the round format for the preliminary round and then shift to the shootout format.

According to the team format, only one athlete from each weight category of a team is allowed to participate. Participating teams will fight one-on-one in the competitions.

The second edition of World Nomad Games started in Kyrgyzstan on September 3 and will run until September 8.

Nearly 2,000 athletes from 40 countries are participating in the games, which are designed to celebrate the nomadic heritage of the Central Asian nations.

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