110 nations will compete in Birmingham – a new record at The World Games

110 nations will compete in Birmingham – a new record at The World Games

The qualification process for The World Games 2022 is nearing completion. By early May, the International Handball Federation will also have nominated the teams for the tournament during the 7-17 July Games in Birmingham, USA. The North America and Caribbean Handball Confederation Beach Handball Championships in Acapulco, Mexico at the end of April will be the final qualifying event for TWG 2022.

What is already certain is that there will be a record number of participating nations: 110 countries will send athletes to the multi-sport event with its 34 sports and 223 medal events. Athletes from 102 nations took part at TWG 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland, whilst 91 countries sent their representatives in 2013 when TWG took place in Cali, Colombia.

The Last Comes First

Afghanistan has entered the list for The World Games 2022 as the 110th nation. Kawsar and Frestha Sherzad will compete in the Muaythai women's 48 and 51 Kilo classes respectively. The two women will lead the march-in by nations at the Opening Ceremony on 7 July at the Protective Stadium in Birmingham. Although the last country to have entered the list, Afghanistan is the first in the alphabet.

For sports fans from the United States, Germany and France, The World Games this summer are especially worth watching. The host country is represented in a total of 142 medal events. A total of 373 athletes will have a home-coming when TWG returns to the U.S. after the 1981 première in Santa Clara, USA. One of the last home players who will be on the shorter road to Birmingham is B-Boy Jeffro, who is looking to be unbreakable in Breaking (DanceSport). Germany, host country in 1989 and 2005, strives for gold in a total of 115 events. Athletes from France will compete in 110 disciplines.

140 Athletes from Ukraine qualified

From Ukraine 140 athletes have qualified; they represent their country in 80 competitions. The International World Games Association and the Birmingham Organising Committee are currently doing everything possible to enable as many of them as possible to start in the USA.

Japan, host of The World Games 2001, is the most strongly represented country from Asia with 160 participants. Colombia, host in 2013, leads the list of nations from South America. 107 Colombian names are on the entry list. One of those is Arias Fabrina: the skater from Colombia was the top athlete at The World Games 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland, with three gold and two silver medals. Looking to Africa, Egypt (37 participants) is just ahead of South Africa, 34 participants.

The list of participants is now almost complete. Archery, DanceSport and Karate added numerous entries in April. The Powerlifting Association will replace its qualifiers from Russia in the coming days; the IWGA has excluded starters from Belarus and Russia from the Games due to the war in Ukraine. In addition, individual starting places are still available in some other sports and disciplines, and here there will also be subsequent nominations from elsewhere due to the exclusion of athletes from the two countries.

 The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association, organised with the support of the International Olympic Committee. The 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from 34 sports and over 100 countries will take part in The World Games.

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