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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