Category Archives: The World Games

AFTNews, The World Games

The World Games 2025 Application for Sports Selection is underway

Seeking to be in at TWG 2025

With just under 1,000 days to go before the start of The World Games in Chengdu, Peoples Republic of China, the application process for the multi-sport event from 7-17 August 2025 has begun. Member Federations of the International World Games Association have until 16th December to submit their proposals for the sports programme.

The Evaluation Commission will then select the 30+ sports to be in Chengdu. After that, the IWGA Board of Directors will determine the programme that will most excite fans in China at the 2025 Games. The final vote will take place at the Annual General Meeting next spring. The entire process is being managed by Sebastian Garvens, Head of Games Services.

IWGA CEO Joachim Gossow expects the 12th edition of The World Games in the capital of China’s Sichuan Province to present new sports, or at least new disciplines. “There are always changes to the programme. At the Birmingham Games, for example, we awarded medals in Breaking, Parkour, Drone Racing and Flag Football for the first time. Wheelchair Rugby was there as a new sport. I assume that our Federations will want make use our platform in Chengdu for their young and emerging disciplines as well.

At the Games in Birmingham, USA, 34 sports with 58 disciplines and 223 medal events got their globally acclaimed stage during the ten competition days. At the 12th edition of the event, the number of sports on the programme will almost certainly expand. The strategy paper of the IWGA foresees that in addition to the sports of the Member Federations, there will be space in the programme made available for other partners. The host city Chengdu, the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee are all invited to participate with proposals for sports disciplines for TWG 2025. The number limit for participants in the Games in three years’ time has been set at 5,000.

Sebastian Garvens explains the criteria for the proposals from the Federations and other partners: “The medal events must not be part of the full Olympic programme in Los Angeles 2028. In addition, each Member Federation can propose a maximum of three disciplines. They must also ensure that the best athletes can compete in the medal events in August 2025.” Other factors that count in programme selection are audience interest in the host country, media interest in a sport, and whether the right kind of sports venue is available. One of the sustainability principles of The World Games is that no new sports facilities need to be built for the event. Gender equality is also important; IWGA allowed almost equal numbers of women and men to compete in the 2022 Games.

In preparation for their applications, the IWGA has sent a questionnaire to the Member Federations. It helps to provide the necessary information for the Evaluation team: the description of the disciplines and events, the number of athletes and competition days, as well as the prerequisites to be created for a competition at the highest level.

The compilation of the sports and disciplines is only the first step on the way to the competition programme for The World Games 2025 in Chengdu. After that, it is a matter of creating a suitable schedule and selecting the appropriate competition venues. The whole process should be largely completed by the fall of 2023. The IWGA will schedule a Competition Managers Meeting for the fourth quarter next year. During the two-days meeting, the concrete implementation of the plans will dominate the agenda.

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The World Games

100 days to the opening ceremony of The World Games in Birmingham, USA

Interview with Nick Sellers, CEO of The World Games Birmingham Organising Committee

Witness History!

The countdown is on with under 100 days and counting until the opening ceremony of The World Games 2022 on 7 July at the Protective Stadium. Nick Sellers, CEO of the Birmingham Organising Committee (BOC), says: the energy is growing day by day. We are ready!

TWG2022 Plate to support The World Games 2022’s commitment to education, diversity, and sustainability – image copyright The World Games (https://flic.kr/p/2mZqSnA)

TWG: How does Birmingham honour the 100 Days to Go day?

Nick Sellers: We will honour the “100 Days To Go” by announcing the “Team RWB Old Glory Relay to The World Games 2022 presented by Airbus”. This epic journey will begin on 25 May in Washington, DC with thousands of America’s military veterans carrying the American Flag and The World Games flag from our nation’s capitol, across the heartland of America, and ultimately into Birmingham, USA. And on 7 July, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin and TWG2022 Honorary Co Chair Noah Galloway, who is himself a veteran and a sports enthusiast, will carry those same flags into Opening Ceremonies for the national anthem. This moment will signify a reconnection of global sports fans as The World Games 2022 will be the first major international multi sport event with full venues following the global pandemic.

TWG: What’s more important to you – the anticipation of the opening ceremony or the nervousness that everything will run smoothly?

Nick Sellers: All of this is important to me. I have great confidence in my team, working hard for the Birmingham Organizing Committee and our plan of execution throughout The Games. And I’m excited for the world to see the beautiful Opening Ceremony show with so many well known artists performing. I’m equally excited for fans to “Witness History” as over 3,600 athletes compete and showcase incredible athletic feats. I am convinced that we will remember this moment a long time. But there’s always a little anxiety for the actual show to begin. This gives us the extra adrenaline to ensure that we’ve taken care of the details.

TWG: What are the most important tasks on the home stretch to the Games?

Nick Sellers: We are moving more from planning to execution. And the most important tasks revolve around the different schedules. We call them “GamesTime” plans. The priorities of these plans include ensuring that the volunteers are trained and ready, each venue and our city has a world class “look and decor”, as well as ensuring that the athletes, fans, and sponsors have a safe, fun and memorable experience. There are so many details that go on behind the scenes to make this happen. Our BOC along with our partners in government and the private sector are all working harmoniously with our partners at the IWGA. And I’m pleased with our progress toward the preparation and execution of these plans.

TWG: What are the most important milestones that have already been achieved?

Nick Sellers: We’ve achieved so many milestones at this stage including securing over 100 sponsors, enlisted over 2,500 volunteers, secured many key partnerships, and finalized our marketing and promotional materials. Now, we turn to finalizing all of the accreditation of teams, athletes, dignitaries, officials, media, and so on, as well as a “GamesTime” simulation in May. During this exercise, we will treat eleven days as if each day were a day during TWG 2022 to establish better and more efficient communication and execution plans. This plan will include working on each day with partners from broadcast production to transportation and security.

TWG: What does a CEO’s working day look like at this stage?

Nick Sellers: I try to ensure my weekly team meeting with staff leadership and partners. But I also try to protect my schedule to have the flexibility to communicate with my entire team, public and private partners, and our IWGA partners as needed. Every day matters at this point for successful execution of our plans. And my time is spent mostly ensuring that our team has the necessary resources and support needed to deliver these plans. Not to forget: I am promoting the historic nature of The World Games 2022.

Official mascots of The World Games 2022 Birmingham, embody the spirit of the city’s history of iron and steel in Vulcan and Goddess of the Hearth and Home in Vesta – image copyright The World Games (https://flic.kr/p/2mZuEqR)

TWG: The BOC is now launching an advertising campaign: what are the most important messages? And what does the campaign look like?

Nick Sellers: The final advertising campaign is a “call to action” for everyone to get their ticket to TWG 2022 while they can. Some competitions are already close to selling out. And we believe that this final advertising campaign will really build even more excitement for ticket sales. The theme is “Step Up!”. Because just as these incredible athletes will have their chance to “Step Up” on that medal podium for their moment of glory, it’s also Birmingham’s and all of America’s chance to “Step Up” and buy a ticket to share in this moment and watch something historic. This will be a moment that fans and families will talk about for the rest of their lives. It’s very special. And I believe it will build excitement for these sports that are competing in TWG 2022. We call these sports the “new generation of global sports” in America.

TWG: What is the mood in Birmingham with regard to the event?

Nick Sellers: The energy is growing day by day and it’s very exciting. Just over the past few weeks, it feels like more and more citizens are realizing that the Games are almost here. The World Games 2022 is on the local and statewide news almost every day now. And it is bringing our community and state together in a very special way. We want to show the world our true “southern hospitality” and how Birmingham and the entire State of Alabama is becoming an international destination worthy of such a grand event as The World Games. We believe this will propel us onto the global stage in a big way. And we are ready.

TWG: Do friends and acquaintances talk to you about The World Games and what do they want to know?

Nick Sellers: The World Games 2022 is a constant topic of conversation in my life right now. From family and friends to business colleagues, they all want to know more about how things are going and what they can do to help. It has been a humbling experience to be a part of this special moment. I’m just grateful to have had this chance to work with an incredible team. And I’m especially grateful to have developed a true friendship with IWGA Honorary Life President Ron Froehlich who is a longtime resident of Birmingham. He’s become a mentor to me and he has helped me get through some very challenging and difficult times in this role. I’ve leaned on his experience. There’s many people that I keep in the front of my mind during this time. But he’s among the top. I want to make him proud. He’s worked so hard for many years for the IWGA and The Olympic Movement and he deserves to see his hometown deliver the best Games yet.

Is the war in Ukraine in connection with The World Games a topic in Birmingham?

Nick Sellers: Yes it is. Many of our sponsors and fans have asked what we can do collectively to show our support and solidarity with the Ukrainian athletes and citizens. And during our recent meetings in Birmingham, IWGA President Perurena made a great recommendation that the BOC join with our partners at the IWGA to support the Ukrainian athletes with a share of ticket and merchandise revenue. We are finalising those plans and will announce them very soon.

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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A press interview released on 29 March 2022 by The World Games, this was first published via PRNews/GIG in AsiaFitnessToday.com 100 Days to Go to The World Games, Birmingham, USA and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. Source: https://www.asiafitnesstoday.com/?p=12010

AFT TV, AFTNews, AFTNews, Features Malaysia, Sport, The World Games

Asia’s squash darling Nicol David named The World Games Greatest Athlete of All Time

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Watch the livestream interview with Nicol David on Friday, 5 February 2021 6:00am (KUL/PER +8 GMT) / 9:00am (SYD/MEL +11 GMT) / 4 February 2021 2:00pm (LA -8UTC) or 5:00pm (NYC/COLOMBIA -5 UTC). Register now.

Kuala Lumpur, Updated: 2 February 2021 / 1 February / 29 January 2021 / Originally published on 26 January 2021

Sports fans all over the world have cast their votes, over 1,204,637 votes to be exact for The World Games Greatest Athlete of All Time.

Malaysian Nicol David 🇲🇾 has been named The World Games Greatest Athlete of All Time! With a huge total number of votes, 318,943 she was voted as the greatest of the 24 sports legends that started the voting race on 8 January. Ireland’s Tug of war legend James Kehoe 🇮🇪 is the first runner-up with 113,120 votes, and Larysa Soloviova, Ukraine’s and The World Games Champion in powerlifting 2005-2017, second, with her 80,790 votes. Marcel Hassemeier of Germany, victorious lifesaver, with 79,760 votes got very close to 3rd place (Source: The World Games).

The retired professional squash player, Datuk Nicol Ann David DB PJN DSPN KMN AMN (born on August 26, 1983) spoke to AFTNN and when asked if she had a message for the young players, lifting inspiration from how she went from zero to hero, this is what she said:

“Firstly I’d like to thank everyone for their support, their help and encouragement. For the youngsters out there, give yourselves a chance, go out and try whatever you want to do and take care of yourself,”.

Nicol David

Standings at our last report on 1 February 2021

Nicol David MAS (squash) 304909 votes (29/1: 227208)

James Kehoe IRL (tug-of-war) 109655 votes (29/1) 81076

Marcel Hassemeier GER (life saving) 78032 votes (29/1 65295)

Sofia Olofsson SWE (powerlifting) 67057 (29/1 52355)

Paola Longoria MEX (muaythai) 63663 votes (29/1 48489)

Batyr Altyev RUS (sumo) 62947 (29/1 46263)

Fabriana Arias COL (rollersports) 63859 (29/1 44422)

Evgeniya Kanaeva RUS (gymnastics) 64484 (29/1 39688)

Larysa Soloviova UKR (Powerlifting) 71106 votes (29/1 39621)

Gabrielle Goffredo & Anna Matus MDA (DanceSport) 63232 (29/1 39256)

Source: The World Games as of 05:00 KUL +8GMT

David won three gold medals as well as a bronze at The World Games between 2005 and 2017. She also won eight World Championship titles and had an unprecedented nine-year reign as World No.1.

Birmingham, Alabama USA will host The World Games in July 2022 – photo twg2022.com

Career milestones

In 1997, 15-year-old David became the youngest woman to win a World Junior Championship. In 2001 she defended that crown, becoming the first woman to capture the junior championship title twice. David received international attention following her success in 2005, and in January 2006 she was officially ranked the number one female player in the world—a status that was never before held by an Asian woman.  

President Zena Wooldridge of the World Squash Federation says: ”Nicol has beaten a number of distinguished athletes to first place and her victory is recognition of a wonderful career that saw her break numerous records and win everything there was to win in the sport.

David was appointed as the UN Development Programme Ambassador for Malaysia in 2002, and she has since set up her own foundation to enable young girls to take up sport, as a tool to help them establish their values.   

When AFTNN reached out to find out how she felt on being nominated for the Greatest Athlete of All Time, Nicol said,

“It’s a huge honour to be nominated by the World Games for the Greatest Athlete of All Time and to gain so much support from everyone in Malaysia and the squash community. It came as a surprise to see me amongst these other top athletes and I’m grateful for this,”.

Nicol David
Video by the Professional Squash Association in May 2020

The World Games (TWG) is an international multi-sport global event since 1981 and takes place every four years after the summer Olympics. TWG features sporting events which are not contested in the Olympic Games such as aikido, billiards, dancesport, kickboxing, orienteering, parachuting and paragliding, squash, surfing, muaythai, tug of war and water skiing. 

Read more about AFT’s coverage on TWG here.

Voting began on January 8th with nominees from all editions of The World Games from 1981 until 2017 representing 24 different sports as nominated by their International Federations. What is common for all of them is that they are extraordinary athletes who have succeeded in an extraordinary way at one or more editions of The World Games.

The public could vote daily, once per 24 hours, for their favourite. “The first candidate they choose gets two votes, and the second candidate one vote. We started with this initiative a year ago, in order to get The World Games family to know each other better; after choosing your favourite, you will choose a candidate from another sport too. This way you will get to see who else is there and with what kind of background story,” TWG communication officer, Anna Jacobson explains.

“Normally we have a vote for the Athlete of the Year in January. This year, to celebrate the 40 years’ anniversary of The World Games, we wanted to do something special. When we decided to look for The World Games Greatest Athlete of All Time, we did not realise we would find 24 such legendary athletes, and it has been a true pleasure for us to follow the vote as well. Nicol David truly deserves her victory! All the 24 candidates will be promoted throughout this year, as they are all legends in their own sport,” said Jacobson, also Head of Communications IWGA.

“If I get a chance to win this it would be amazing for me just to have the recognition through playing squash and hopefully it can elevate the attention for the future of squash and a proud moment to represent my country and Asia,”.

Nicol David

The voting ended on February 1st and three best athletes will be awarded a trophy and a branded gift from the official sponsor Protective Life.

This article has been researched, compiled and written by the team at Asia Fitness Today News Network (AFTNN); Sneha Ramesh – Intern, Monash University (Sunway campus), Syuhada Adam – Editorial consultant, Nikki Yeo & Jasmine Low – Director/Producer.

Register and get notified about the live streamed interview with Datuk Nicol David on the Asia Fitness Today KURANG MANIS PODCAST. *AFTNN would like to shout out a word of thanks to Nicol who is currently in Colombia, her second base, TWG & PSA for making this interview possible.
AFTNews, The World Games

The World Games sports programme out now

A detailed Sports Programme for the official sports, including disciplines and events has been published exactly two years ahead of the opening ceremony of The World Games 2022. 

The official Sports Programme includes 30 sports, 54 disciplines and 207 medal events. Most of the sports were on the programme of the previous edition of The World Games in 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland, but Softball and Racquetball are returning to the Games after a longer break. Completely new disciplines in The World Games official programme are Drone Racing (Air Sports), Canoe Marathon (Canoe), Breaking (DanceSport), Women’s Fistball, Parkour (Gymnastics) and Men’s Lacrosse.

The World Games SportsProgramme_TWG2022Download

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 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from over 30 sports and 100 countries will take part in The World Games.

AFT TV, The World Games

40 years IWGA – The World Games

Video

The World Games, first held in 1981, are an international multi-sport event, meant for sports or disciplines that are not in the Olympic Games. The World Games are organised and governed by the International World Games Association (IWGA) and recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The World Games are held every four years, one year after the Summer Olympic Games. The next host city will be Birmingham (Alabama), USA in July 2022 (new dates).

Sport, The World Games

The World Games 2022: Virtual Watch Parties

22 June 2022 (AFTNN/PRNewsGIG) – The world needs sports right now, but there aren’t many places to get them. With major sports leagues shutdown throughout the world, fans across the globe are looking anywhere they can to get their fix of competition.

Sports fans desperate for some action need look no further than The World Games 2022.

Throughout the summer of 2020, The World Games 2022 will be hosting weekly virtual watch parties on the official Facebook page of The World Games Birmingham as a part of #WayBackTheWorldGames. Each Wednesday, the page will air replays of gold medal competitions from the 2017 edition of The Games.

Recent championship finals aired on the page include male and female Ju-Jitsu and Women’s Super Heavyweight Powerlifting, featuring USA gold medalist, Bonica Brown.

On championship day, Brown performed a 684-pound squat, which at the time was a USA powerlifting record that had been in place for more than a decade.

“It’s a moment I was waiting for for a couple of years to do,” Brown said. “I was finally able to execute it on the biggest platform possible.”

Brown has continued her success in the powerlifting world since The Games in 2017, breaking four more world records at the International Powerlifting Federation World Classic Powerlifting Championships the following year.

Upcoming events will include Beach Handball, Lacrosse and Sport Climbing.

The gold medal matches in men’s beach handball featured Brazil facing off against Croatia, while the women’s competition featured a match between Brazil and Argentina.

In the gold medal women’s lacrosse match, the United States took on Canada.

The final sport climbing heat on the women’s side included competitors from Belgium, Slovenia, the United States, Japan, Austria, Korea and France. On the men’s side, the final heat included competitors from Japan, Canada, France, Slovenia, Italy, Poland and Australia.

Part of the mission of The World Games is to help educate sports fans across the world about sports that don’t necessarily see the spotlight year-round. So, what better time than now to learn about some new sports while also getting your fill of fierce competition at the highest level?

Follow @TWG2022 on all social platforms and stay tuned on Facebook.com/TWG2022 on Wednesdays for #WayBackTheWorldGames.

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 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from over 30 sports and 100 countries will take part in The World Games.