Bowling, Beach Handball, Canoe, Gymnastics, Karate, Powerlifting, Sport Climbing – here are some examples of the 31 sports that are ready to excel at The World Games 20–30 July in Wroclaw, Poland. 27 official and 4 invitational sports, with altogether more than 3,000 athletes, will take part in the multi-sport event for sports and disciplines that are not yet in the programme of the Olympic Games.
The Games could be called “a stepping stone to the Olympics”, considering that many of the sports at The World Games have later become part of the Olympic Games – the latest being Rugby for Rio 2016 and Baseball/Softball, Karate, Surfing and Sport Climbing for Tokyo 2020. In Wroclaw there will be a big delegation from the IOC to watch the individual sports and the Games in general.
John Liljelund, Secretary General of the International Floorball Federation, says: “We see The World Games as a major opportunity to showcase our sport and raise the general awareness about it in the sports community. This has made it easy to get all parties interested in The World Games, and we have worked a lot with it. We hope to have a lot of new spectators visiting the venue, to see the best of the best on the field of play. Our preparations are heading into their final stretch and the Floorball Community is eagerly awaiting the start of the tournament.”
Gaston Parage, President of the International Powerlifting Federation, adds: “For all athletes The World Games is the most important sporting event, in terms of quality and audience, after the Olympic Games.”
The World Games sports are divided into six categories: Artistic and Dance Sports, Ball Sports, Martial Arts, Precision Sports, Strength Sports and Trend Sports.
The official sports at The World Games 2017 include: Air Sports, Archery, Beach Handball, Billiards, Boules Sport, Bowling, Canoeing, Dance Sport, Fistball, Floorball, Flying Disc, Gymnastics, Ju-Jitsu, Karate, Korfball, Lacrosse, Life Saving, Muaythai, Orienteering, Powerlifting, Roller Sports, Sport Climbing, Squash, Sumo, Tug of War, Underwater Sports, and Water Ski & Wakeboard.
Added to this are the invitational sports for the 2017 Games: American Football, Kickboxing, Indoor Rowing and Speedway. To see the schedule for the different sports and disciplines, please click here.
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. The 10th edition of The World Games will be held in Wroclaw, Poland, 20–30 July 2017. More than 3,000 athletes from 31 sports and 111 countries will take part in the Games. Olympic Channel will broadcast The World Games on a 24/7 channel, and agreements to broadcast the Games have so far been made with several countries, including Germany and China.
