The champions of the tournament in mas-wrestling were announced at the 3rd World Nomad Games, taking place in Issyk-Kul region.
Mas-wrestling is the national sport of Yakutia. Two athletes sit opposite to each other and rest their feet on a special board. A referee gives them a stick, and the fight begins. A sportsman has to snatch a stick from the hands of an opponent, or drag it to his side. The Kyrgyz have a similar sport — tayak tartysh.
At least 122 sportsmen from 26 countries competed for the victory at the Games. Among the men, the Kyrgyz citizens Bekzhan Omuraliev (60 kg), Azat Tashtanbekov (90 kg) and Ataibek uulu Keldibek (up to 105 kg) won the gold medals. The Russians Alexander Rakhleev (70 kg), Semyon Atakov (80 kg), Dmitry Popov (125 kg) and Andrei Markin (over 125 kg) also won gold medals.
The Russians Sardana Osipova (55 kg), Alina Turchina (65 kg), Saina Sedalisheva (75 kg) and Svetlana Tikhonova (over 85 kg) were the best among women. A citizen of Ukraine Irina Zaslavskaya (85 kg) also took the 1st place.
Kyrgyz athletes jointly won three gold, four silver and four bronze medals. Lyubov Maleyeva took the 3rd place in her category.
