World Games

This article covers the sporting event. For computer games, see World Games (computer game) .

The World Games are an international event in sports that are not part of the competition program of the Olympic Games , but are nonetheless widely used worldwide.

They are held every four years at different locations, in the year after the Summer Olympics . The host is the International Association for World Games (IWGA) under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee .

Although the World Games, like the Olympic Games, are an international sporting event and allow competitions between the world's top athletes, they are characterized by two special features:

• Participating athletes are representatives of their sport and are selected by the relevant international sports association and not by umbrella organizations in their home countries.
• Existing facilities will be used as venues for the competitions.

The event consists of selected sports that have Olympic recognition, but are not part of the competition program of the Olympic Games. At the same time, programs are offered in which the public can participate, the aim here being the general dissemination of the respective sport as well as the exchange between the residents and the participating / visiting athletes and officials from around the world. In addition to official sports that are decided by the IWGA General Assembly, there are invitation sports that are included in the program by the respective local organizer (mostly due to the good chances of success of the local teams or a hoped-for large audience interest).

history

In 1980 the World Games Council was founded by various international sports federations whose sports were waiting to be included in the Olympic competition program. The purpose of the event is to provide a platform for sports that are not represented at the Summer Olympics . In 1981 the first official games took place in Santa Clara (USA). Three years earlier, the so-called Pre World Games were held in Seoul ( Korea ) in 1978 .

In 1996 the World Games Council was renamed the International World Games Association (IWGA) . Since 2000 the Games have been held under the auspices of the IOC .

The World Games have taken place twice in Germany so far. In Karlsruhe the World Games 1989 and in Duisburg the World Games 2005 , in which 3,000 athletes competed in 40 non-Olympic sports that were held in 25 venues. On March 17, 2008, the IWGA awarded the cities of Duisburg and Düsseldorf the contract to host the 2013 World Games from among 20 competitors . On December 8, 2008, the city of Duisburg canceled the event for financial reasons, whereupon Düsseldorf withdrew the application.

Events

Games	year	place	Participants	Nations	Official sports	Invitation sports
I.	1981	Santa Clara	1745	58	15th	1
II.	1985	London	1227	57	20th	1
III.	1989	Karlsruhe	1965	50	19th	0
IV.	1993	The hague	2275	69	22nd	3
V.	1997	Lahti	2600	78	25th	5
VI.	2001	Akita	3200	93	26th	5
VII.	2005	Duisburg	3200	93	34	6th
VIII.	2009	Kaohsiung	3235	90	26th	5
IX.	2013	Cali	2870	90	31	5
X.	2017	Wroclaw	3214	102	27	4th
XI.	2022	Birmingham
XII.	2025	Cheng you

sports

Some of the sports were once Olympic or later became Olympic sports such as B. Triathlon . Until recently, playing sports at the World Games was a prerequisite for being represented at the Olympic Games later. Due to the self-imposed restriction of the IOC not to allow more than 10,000 athletes to participate in future Olympic Games, new sports are currently only in exceptional cases as Olympic disciplines such as B. Rugby 7 at the 2016 Olympic Summer Games .

At the World Games, a distinction is made between competitive sports and invitation sports (formerly demonstration sports). Invitation sports are not part of the official competition program of the IWGA (and are not determined by it), but take part in the World Games "at the invitation" of the respective host city, such as the Japanese martial art Aikidō (in which competitions are dispensed with).

Overview of the sports at the World Games

Area	sport			20th century					21st century
				81	85	89	93	97	01	05	09	13	17th	21st
Current official sports
Artistry / dance sport	Figure skating			4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	x
	Dance sport							2	2	3	3	3	4th	x
	Gymnastics	aerobics						4th	4th	5	5	7th	5	x
		acrobatics					15th	15th	5	5	5	5	5	x
		Parkour												x
		Rhythmic sports gymnastics							4th	4th	4th	3	4th	x
		Trampoline / tumbling		8th	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	x
Ball sports	Beach handball								2	2	2	2	2	x
	Fistball				1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	x
	Canoe polo									2	2	2	2	x
	Korfball				1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	x
	Racquetball			4th	2		2				2	2		x
	squash												1	x
	Floorball							1					1	x
Martial arts	Jiu Jitsu							10	9	10	10	13	22nd	x
	karate	Kata		2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	x
		Kumite		7th	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	10	10	x
	Kickboxing												7th	x
	Muay thai												11	x
	Sumo								8th	8th	8th	8th	8th	x
Weight training	Powerlifting			9	3	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	8th	8th	8th	x
	Tug of war			2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	x
Precision sports	billiards								4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	x
	Field archery				4th	4th	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	7th	7th	x
	Boules					1	2	2	2	6th	8th	8th	12	x
	bowling			3	5	3	3	3	3	6th	3	3	4th	x
Trend sport	Fin swimming			12	17th	14th	14th	17th	10	10	10	10	14th	x
	Frisbee					•			3	1	1	1	1	x
	Air sports							5	4th	5	5	3	3	x
	orientation								3	3	5	5	5	x
	Rescue Sports				10	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	x
	Roller sports	Inline hockey								1	1	1	1	x
		Inline speed skating		8th	12	10	10	10	10	12	10	18th	18th	x
	Sport climbing									4th	4th	4th	6th	x
	Water ski / wakeboard			8th	6th	6th	6th	12	6th	8th	6th	8th	8th	x
Former official sports
Ball sports	Base / softball	baseball		1			Olympic 1992-2008							2020
		Softball		2	1			1996-2008 Olympic			1	1		2020
	beach volleyball						2	Olympic since 1996
	lacrosse												1	1
	Netball				1	1	1
	Roller sports	Roller hockey		1	1	1	1		1
	7-a-side rugby								1	1	1	1	since 2016
Martial arts	Sambo				17th		9
	Taekwondo			10	8th	12	12		Olympic since 2000
Weight training	Bodybuilding			6th	6th	6th	7th	9	7th	7th	7th
	Weightlifting (women)							9	Olympic since 2000
Precision sports	Casting			11	12		13	12	6th	6th
Trend sport	badminton			1			Olympic since 1992
	Indoor cycling					5
	Triathlon					•	4th		Olympic since 2000
Invitation sports
Ball sports	American football									1			1
	Indoor hockey									2
	Pesäpallo							1
	Tchoukball										1
	Water polo (women)			1					Olympic since 2000
Martial arts	Aikido					•	•	•	•
	Wushu										13	16
Weight training	Tug of war (women)							2	1
Precision sports	Boule Lyonnaise							2	officially since 2001
	Mini golf					•
	Gate ball								1
Trend sport	boomerang					•
	Dragon boat									4th	4th
	Duathlon											2
	Canoe marathon											6th
	Military pentathlon							2
	Motorcycling	Indoor trial								1
		Motocross			•
		Speedway			•								1
	Rowing ergometer												7th
	Twirling						•
decisions				104	125	112	155	165	140	169	164	199	201
Official sports				15th	20th	19th	21st	23	27	31	31	32	27
Invitation sports				1	4th	5	3	6th	5	6th	5	4th	4th

Medal table

→ Main article : World Games all-time medal table

So far, 90 different teams have won medals at 10 World Games. Medals in invitation sports are not taken into account. The medals awarded at the Pre World Games 1978 are also not taken into account.

The ten best nations

Eternal medal table of the World Games (as of December 23, 2017)
space	country	gold	silver	bronze	total
1.	Italy	153	144	139	436
2.	Russian Federation	151	123	81	355
3.	United States	142	131	109	382
4th	Germany	137	112	136	385
5.	France	101	102	105	308
6th	People's Republic of China	67	55	27	149
7th	Great Britain	60	61	89	210
8th.	Japan	55	38	53	146
9.	Ukraine	44	47	36	127
10.	Spain	42	42	42	126

See also

• Commonwealth Games
• Universiade

Individual evidence

1. ↑ World Games 1989 Summary
2. ↑ Status: according to World Games 2017

Web links

Commons : World Games  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• International World Games Association
• World Games 2005 Duisburg