World Games sports explained

The World Games sports comprise all the sports contested in The World Games.^[1] Starting in Birmingham 2022, there was no distinction between official and invitational sports. José Perurena, IWGA President, stated, "In Birmingham, for the first time, invitational sports were no longer presented separately but were also part of the official programme."^[2] This is now The World Games policy.

Sports

Disciplines from the same sport are grouped under the same color:

align=center colspan="15" bgcolor=LightSteelBlue Official sports Sport (Discipline) width=50 Body 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2022 2025 FIG 15 15 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 5 7 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 8 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 6 4 4   WSkate 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 12 10 10 10 10 12 10 18 18 18 18   FAI 5 4 5 5 3 3 2 2 WA 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 IHF bgcolor=palegreen 2 bgcolor=palegreen 2 bgcolor=palegreen 2 2 2 2 2 WCBS 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 CMSB 1 2 2 2 4 6 8 8 12 4 6 WB 3 5 3 3 3 3 6 3 3 4 4 ICF bgcolor=palegreen 6 4 4 ICF 2 2 2 2 2 2 ICU 1 WDSF 2 2 3 3 3 4 5 12 ICF bgcolor=palegreen 4 bgcolor=palegreen 4 6 ITU bgcolor=palegreen 2 2 CMAS 12 17 14 14 16 10 10 10 10 14 16 16 IFA 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 IFAF bgcolor=palegreen 2 1 IFF bgcolor=palegreen 1 1 1 2 WFDF bgcolor=palegreen •^[3] 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 CMAS 9 JJIF 10 9 10 10 13 22 18 19 WKF 9 12 12 12 12 12 13 13 12 12 12 12 WAKO bgcolor=palegreen 7 6 12 IKF 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 Lacrosse (women's) FIL 1 1 1 ILS 10 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 IFMA 11 12 6 IOF 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 WCBS 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 UIM 3 IPF 9 3 6 6 6 6 6 8 8 8 8 16 IRF 4 2 2 2 2 2 3 WCBS 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 FIAS 17 9 11 WBSC 2 1 1996-2008 bgcolor=palegreen 1 bgcolor=palegreen 1 1 2 IFSC 4 4 4 6 6 6 WSF 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 IFS bgcolor=palegreen 8 8 8 8 8 8 TWIF 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 IWWF 8 6 6 6 12 6 8 6 8 8 8 6 bgcolor=palegreen 1 1 IWUF bgcolor=palegreen 13 bgcolor=palegreen 16 bgcolor=palegreen 10 12   align=center colspan=15 bgcolor=LightSteelBlue Previous official sports Sport (Discipline) width=50 Body 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2022 2025 BWF 5 since 1992 WBSC 1 1992-2008 2020 FIVB 2 since 1996 IFBB 6 6 6 7 9 7 7 7 ICSF 11 12 13 12 6 6 UCI 5 INF 1 1 1 WR 1 1 1 1 since 2016 WTF 10 8 12 12 since 2000 ITU bgcolor=palegreen • 4 since 2000 IWF 9 since 2000   align=center colspan=15 bgcolor=palegreen Invitational sports Sport (Discipline) width=50 Body 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2022 2025 FINA bgcolor=palegreen 1 since 2000 IFAF bgcolor=palegreen 1 bgcolor=palegreen 1 FIM bgcolor=palegreen • bgcolor=palegreen • bgcolor=palegreen 1 bgcolor=palegreen 1 IAF bgcolor=palegreen • bgcolor=palegreen • bgcolor=palegreen • bgcolor=palegreen • bgcolor=palegreen • WMSF bgcolor=palegreen • bgcolor=palegreen • bgcolor=palegreen •^[4] FEI bgcolor=palegreen • CMSB bgcolor=palegreen 2 CISM bgcolor=palegreen 2 bgcolor=palegreen 1 Tug of war (women) TWIF bgcolor=palegreen 2 bgcolor=palegreen 1 WGU bgcolor=palegreen 1 FIH bgcolor=palegreen 2 FITB bgcolor=palegreen 2 FISA bgcolor=palegreen 7 Lacrosse (men's) WL bgcolor=palegreen 1   Medal Events 104 125 112 155 165 140 169 164 199 201 223 TBC   bgcolor=lightsteelblue colspan=3 Official sports 15 20 19 21 23 27 31 31 32 27 30 35 bgcolor=palegreen colspan=3 Invitational sports 1 4 5 3 6 5 6 5 4 4 5 N/A

Past TWG sports and disciplines

• Bodybuilding (Bodybuilding, Fitness) – Last contested in 2009 ^[5]
• Bowling (Nine-pin bowling) – Contested only in 2005 as official
• Cable wakeboard - Contested only in 2005 as official
• Casting – Last contested in 2005
• Flying Disc (Disc golf) – Contested only in 2001 as official, to be contested in 2025
• Indoor cycling (Artistic cycling, Cycle ball) – Contested only in 1989 as official
• Lifesaving (Beach) – Last contested in 2009
• Netball – Last contested in 1993
• Roller hockey (quad skate) - Last contested in 2001

Past TWG sports and disciplines added to the Olympic Games

• Badminton – became an Olympic sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics
• Baseball and Softball – were Olympic sports from 1992 (baseball)/1996 (softball) to 2008, and returned to the Olympics in 2020 and 2028 as optional sports
• Beach volleyball - became an Olympic sport at the 1996 Summer Olympics
• Breakdancing - became an Olympic sport at the 2024 Summer Olympics
• Flag football – will become an Olympic sport at the 2028 Summer Olympics
• Karate – became an Olympic sport at the 2020 Summer Olympics
• Lacrosse sixes – will become an Olympic sport at the 2028 Summer Olympics (lacrosse was competed at the 1904 and 1908 Summer Olympics as field lacrosse)
• Rugby sevens – became an Olympic sport at the 2016 Summer Olympics (rugby union was competed as 15-a-side at the 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics)
• Sport climbing – became an Olympic sport at the 2020 Summer Olympics
• Squash – will become an Olympic sport at the 2028 Summer Olympics
• Taekwondo – became an Olympic sport at the 2000 Summer Olympics
• Trampoline – certain individual events were introduced at the 2000 Summer Olympics
• Triathlon – became an Olympic sport at the 2000 Summer Olympics
• Water polo (women) - became an Olympic sport at the 2000 Summer Olympics (men never competed in water polo in The World Games, as it has been in all Summer Olympics since 1900)
• Weightlifting (women) - became an Olympic sport at the 2000 Summer Olympics (men never competed in weightlifting in The World Games as it has been all Summer Olympics since 1920, and was also in the Summer Olympics in 1896 and 1904)

External links

• The Sports of the World Games at International World Games Association web site

Notes and References

1. Web site: World Games . sports123.com . 7 June 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110617103924/http://sports123.com/wga/index.html . June 17, 2011 .
2. Web site: Interview of the Month IWGA . 22 Dec 2022. 2024-02-25. The World Games.
3. Web site: THE WORLD GAMES CONTINUE TO GROW!. IWGA. TheWorldGames.org. 2021-07-14. 2019. (In 1989) Aikido and Minigolf were presented as invitational sports, and Triathlon, Boomerang and Flying Disc were among the demonstration sports. This was the first time there were sports demonstrations at The World Games..
4. Web site: History World Baton Twirling Federation . 2022-06-18 . www.wbtf.org.
5. After various violations of Anti-Doping Rules at the 2009 World Games, IWGA decided to remove the sport from the program for the 2013 World Games in Cali. Web site: IWGA - Body Building. theworldgames.org. 3 July 2013.