2022 World Games

The 2022 World Games were an international multi-sport event held from July 7 to 17, 2022, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. They were the 11th World Games, a multi-sport event featuring disciplines of Olympic sports and other competitions that are not currently contested at the Olympic Games; the Games featured 3,457 athletes competing in 223 medal events over 34 total sports.^[1]

The World Games 2022

Host city	Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Nations	99
Athletes	3,457
Events	223
Opening	July 7, 2022
Closing	July 17, 2022
Opened by	Randall Woodfin Mayor of Birmingham
Main venue	Protective Stadium
Website	twg2022.com
← Wroclaw 2017 Chengdu 2025 →

They were originally scheduled to be held in 2021, but were postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They were the second edition of the World Games to be hosted by the United States since their inaugural edition in 1981.

Bidding process

The cities that bid for the 2022 Games were:

•   Lima, Peru
•   Ufa, Russia
•   Birmingham, United States

Barcelona and Santiago also considered bids. Cities paid a $125,000 application fee, and submitted information about "venues, infrastructure, volunteers, budget, transportation[,] and other elements".^[2]

Birmingham's bid, publicly announced in June 2014, was presented by Edgar Welden, Scotty Myers, and David Benck. It was the only American city authorized to make a bid for these games. Myers, the executive director of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, said the bid was "a dream, but it's not a pipe dream. It's attainable."^[2] At the time, organizers projected a budget of $75 million, and the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau anticipated a windfall of between $224.4 million and $288.6 million in out-of-town dollars.^[2]

On January 22, 2015, at its meeting in Lausanne, the International World Games Association (IWGA) elected Birmingham as host of the 2021 World Games.^[3][4]

On April 4, 2020, the Games were postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[5]

Venues

Venues for The World Games 2022 include:^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

• Avondale Park – archery
• Barber Motorsports Park – air sports (canopy piloting)
• Bessie Estell Park – boules sports
• Birmingham CrossPlex

• Bill Harris Arena: artistic skating, inline hockey
• Natatorium: canoe polo, finswimming, lifesaving
• Indoor Track: wheelchair rugby

• Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex

• Concert Hall: powerlifting
• East Exhibition Hall: floorball, korfball
• Legacy Arena: dancesport (Latin, rock n roll, standard), gymnastics (acrobatic, aerobic, rhythmic, trampoline and tumbling)
• North Exhibition Hall: bowling
• Sheraton Hotel Ballroom: billiards sports

• Birmingham Southern College

• Bill Battle Coliseum: ju-jitsu, karate, wushu
• BSC Panther Soccer Field: fistball
• campus: orienteering (sprint)

• Boutwell Auditorium – kickboxing, muay thai, sumo
• Hoover Metropolitan Stadium – softball
• John Carroll Catholic High School – flying disc
• Legion Field – flag football
• Oak Mountain State Park

• Double Oak Lake: canoe marathon, water skiing and wakeboard
• nature: orienteering (middle distance)

• Powell Steam Plant – track speedskating, road speedskating
• Protective Stadium – opening and closing ceremonies, air sports (drone racing)
• Railroad Park – duathlon (start and finish), orienteering (sprint relay)
• Regions Field – orienteering (part of sprint relay)
• Sloss Furnaces – beach handball, dancesport (breaking), gymnastics (parkour), sport climbing
• University of Alabama at Birmingham

• PNC Field: lacrosse
• University Recreation Center: racquetball, squash
• track and field complex: tug of war

The Games

Sports

The 2022 World Games programme featured 30 official sports including 54 disciplines encompassing 206 events.^[11] This was the first time that drone racing, canoe marathon, breaking, women's fistball, kickboxing, and parkour were included in the World Games as official sports. Softball and racquetball returned to the official World Games programme. Invitational sports comprising 17 events included duathlon,^[12] flag football,^[13] wheelchair rugby,^[14] wushu (taolu)^[15] and men's lacrosse.^[16] Both men's and women's field lacrosse were played in a six-a-side format.^[17] The numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each sports discipline.

•   Acrobatic gymnastics (5) ^AD
•   Aerobic gymnastics (4) ^AD
•   Air sports (2) ^T
•   Archery (7) ^P
•   Artistic roller skating (3) ^AD
•   Beach handball (2) ^B
•   Billiards sports (4) ^P
•   Boules sports (4) ^P
•   Bowling (4) ^P
•   Canoe marathon (4) ^T
•   Canoe polo (2) ^B
•   Dancesport (5) ^AD
•   Duathlon (3) ^O
•   Finswimming (16) ^T
•   Fistball (2) ^B
•   Flag football (2) ^O
•   Floorball (1) ^B
•   Flying disc (1) ^T
•   Inline hockey (1) ^B
•   Ju-jitsu (18) ^M
•   Karate (12) ^M
•   Kickboxing (6) ^M
•   Korfball (1) ^B
•   Lacrosse (2) ^{B(W) O(M)}
•   Lifesaving (16) ^T
•   Muaythai (12) ^M
•   Orienteering (5) ^T
•   Parkour (4) ^AD
•   Powerlifting (8) ^S
•   Racquetball (2) ^B
•   Rhythmic gymnastics (4) ^AD
•   Road speed skating (8) ^T
•   Softball (1) ^B
•   Sport climbing (6) ^T
•   Squash (2) ^B
•   Sumo (8) ^M
•   Track speed skating (10) ^T
•   Trampoline gymnastics (4) ^AD
•   Tug of war (3) ^S
•   Water skiing (8) ^T
•   Wheelchair rugby (1) ^O
•   Wushu (10) ^O

Notes^{[a 1]}

AD: Artistic and Dance sports

B: Ball sports

O: Optional sports, selected by the host city

M: Martial arts

P: Precision sports

S: Strength sports

T: Trend sports

1. 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."^[18] This is now TWG policy.

Participating nations

On February 19, 2021, the International Olympic Committee announced that certain Russian athletes would be allowed to compete under the designation "ROC" (for Russian Olympic Committee) at the Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Winter Games. This penalty also applies through end of 2022 and would have been applied to events affiliated with the International Olympic Committee, such as The World Games.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, athletes from Russia along with Belarus were barred from the 2022 World Games, per the IOC's recommendations.^[19] Russia originally qualified 62 athletes while Belarus was set to send 11 athletes.^[20] Part of the ticket revenue was donated to Ukraine for rebuilding sports venues after the Russian invasion of the country.^[21][22]

Athletes from 110 National Olympic Committees were scheduled to participate.^[23] In total, athletes from 99 delegations competed at the 2022 World Games. The only representative team in the 2022 World Games not represented by a National Olympic Committee were the Haudenosaunee teams competing in lacrosse.^[24]

Participating Nations

Afghanistan (3)   Algeria (1)   Argentina (46)   Aruba (2)   Australia (98)   Austria (72)   Azerbaijan (15)   Bahrain (3)   Belgium (77)   Bosnia and Herzegovina (3)   Bolivia (2)   Brazil (74)   Brunei (2)   Bulgaria (10)   Cambodia (2)   Canada (132)   Chile (28)   China (40)   Chinese Taipei (74)   Colombia (70)   Costa Rica (9)   Croatia (21)   Cuba (1)   Czech Republic (87)   Denmark (44)   Dominican Republic (2)   Ecuador (13)   Egypt (21)   El Salvador (2)   Estonia (8)   Finland (37)   France (167)   Georgia (1)   Germany (237)   Great Britain (110)   Greece (15)   Guatemala (6)   Haudenosaunee (24)   Hong Kong (17)   Hungary (59)   Iceland (4)   India (10)   Indonesia (6)   Ireland (8)   Israel (51)   Italy (185)   Japan (138)   Jordan (3)   Kazakhstan (16)   Kuwait (4)   Kyrgyzstan (2)   Latvia (33)   Lithuania (11)   Luxembourg (1)   Malaysia (5)   Mauritius (2)   Mexico (78)   Moldova (2)   Mongolia (7)   Montenegro (3)   Morocco (10)   Namibia (1)   Nepal (2)   Netherlands (80)   New Zealand (46)   North Macedonia (2)   Norway (28)   Pakistan (1)   Panama (26)   Paraguay (2)   Peru (4)   Philippines (9)   Poland (71)   Portugal (47)   Puerto Rico (31)   Qatar (12)   Romania (21)   Senegal (1)   Serbia (5)   Singapore (15)   Slovakia (12)   Slovenia (18)   South Africa (21)   South Korea (30)   Spain (57)   Suriname (14)   Sweden (56)   Switzerland (102)   Thailand (32)   Tunisia (1)   Turkey (3)   Ukraine (105)   United Arab Emirates (13)   United States (340) (host)   Uruguay (2)   Uzbekistan (5)   Venezuela (16)   Vietnam (5)   Virgin Islands (9)

Costs

The games cost $65.1 million to produce. It also provided a economic boost of about $165 million. However, after only generating $51 million in revenue from sponsorships and tickets, and a $5 million dollar bailout from the city of Birmingham, it resulted in a current loss of $10 million. In August 2022, Games CEO Nick Sellers said in a statement: “We have every intention to raise the associated funds and pay our vendors.” ^[25][26]

Calendar

Source^[27]

• All dates are in Central Daylight Time (UTC-05:00)

OC

Opening ceremony

●

Event competitions

1

Gold medal events

CC

Closing ceremony

July		7 Thu	8 Fri	9 Sat	10 Sun	11 Mon	12 Tue	13 Wed	14 Thu	15 Fri	16 Sat	17 Sun	Events
Ceremonies		OC										CC	—
Acrobatic gymnastics										2	2	1	5
Aerobic gymnastics							2	2					4
Air sports				●	1	●	1						2
Archery			●	3	●	●	2	●	●	2			7
Artistic roller skating											●	3	3
Beach handball						●	●	●	●	2			2
Billiards sports								●	●	●	2	2	4
Boules sports							2	2					4
Bowling			●	●	●	4							4
Canoe marathon						2	2						4
Canoe polo									●	●	●	2	2
Dancesport			1	2	2								5
Finswimming			8	8									16
Fistball					●	●	●	●	2				2
Floorball			●	●	●	●	1						1
Flying disc							●	●	●	●	1		1
Inline hockey			●	●	●	●	1						1
Ju-jitsu										9	9		18
Karate			6	6									12
Kickboxing (K-1)								●	6				6
Korfball								●	●	●	●	1	1
Lacrosse (women)							●	●	●	●	1		1
Lifesaving					8	8							16
Muay Thai										●	●	12	12
Orienteering										2	2	1	5
Parkour gymnastics					2	2							4
Powerlifting			3	3	2								8
Racquetball					●	●	●	2					2
Rhythmic gymnastics							2	2					4
Road speed skating					4	4							8
Softball				●	●	●	●	1					1
Sport climbing									2	2	2		6
Squash								●	●	●	●	2	2
Sumo				6	2								8
Track speed skating			6	4									10
Trampoline gymnastics										1	1	2	4
Tug of war									1	1	1		3
Water skiing									●	4	4		8
Daily medal events			24	32	21	20	13	9	11	25	25	26	206
Cumulative total			24	56	77	97	110	119	130	155	180	206
Duathlon^1											2	1	3
Flag football^1					●	●	●	●	2				2
Lacrosse (men)^1			●	●	●	●	1						1
Wheelchair rugby^1									●	●	●	1	1
Wushu (taolu)^1							5	5					10
Daily medal events				0	0	0	6	5	2	0	2	2	17
Cumulative total				0	0	0	6	11	13	13	15	17
July		7 Thu	8 Fri	9 Sat	10 Sun	11 Mon	12 Tue	13 Wed	14 Thu	15 Fri	16 Sat	17 Sun	Events

Note

¹ Invitational sports selected by the host organizing committee

Medal table

Further information: List of 2022 World Games medal winners

  *   Host nation (United States)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Germany	24	7	16	47
2	United States*	16	18	10	44
3	Ukraine	16	12	17	45
4	Italy	13	24	12	49
5	France	11	15	16	42
6	Hungary	11	7	9	27
7	Belgium	11	4	5	20
8	Japan	10	11	12	33
9	Colombia	9	10	6	25
10	China	9	4	1	14
11	Israel	7	3	4	14
12	Spain	6	6	7	19
13	Great Britain	6	3	4	13
14	Canada	5	5	5	15
15	Switzerland	5	4	3	12
16	Mexico	5	2	5	12
17	Denmark	4	3	3	10
18	Thailand	4	3	2	9
19	Sweden	3	6	5	14
20	Poland	3	5	7	15
21	Netherlands	3	3	4	10
22	Egypt	3	2	1	6
23	Australia	3	1	2	6
24	Croatia	2	5	0	7
25	Indonesia	2	3	0	5
26	Norway	2	2	1	5
	Serbia	2	2	1	5
28	Brazil	2	1	5	8
	United Arab Emirates	2	1	5	8
30	Austria	2	1	1	4
31	Cambodia	2	0	0	2
	Vietnam	2	0	0	2
33	Chinese Taipei	1	6	6	13
34	Greece	1	3	4	8
	South Korea	1	3	4	8
36	Portugal	1	3	1	5
37	Kazakhstan	1	2	1	4
38	Slovenia	1	1	3	5
39	Slovakia	1	1	2	4
40	Bulgaria	1	1	1	3
	New Zealand	1	1	1	3
42	Brunei	1	1	0	2
43	Hong Kong	1	0	4	5
44	Ecuador	1	0	3	4
45	Azerbaijan	1	0	1	2
	Lithuania	1	0	1	2
47	Algeria	1	0	0	1
	Costa Rica	1	0	0	1
	Moldova	1	0	0	1
	Philippines	1	0	0	1
	South Africa	1	0	0	1
52	Morocco	0	4	0	4
53	Czech Republic	0	3	3	6
54	Virgin Islands	0	3	1	4
55	Chile	0	2	1	3
	Venezuela	0	2	1	3
57	Argentina	0	1	2	3
	Romania	0	1	2	3
	Singapore	0	1	2	3
60	Finland	0	1	1	2
	Kyrgyzstan	0	1	1	2
	Uzbekistan	0	1	1	2
63	Bahrain	0	1	0	1
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0	1	0	1
	Guatemala	0	1	0	1
	Mongolia	0	1	0	1
	Peru	0	1	0	1
	Qatar	0	1	0	1
69	Malaysia	0	0	2	2
70	Bolivia	0	0	1	1
	India	0	0	1	1
	Panama	0	0	1	1
	Tunisia	0	0	1	1
Totals (73 entries)		224	221	222	667

In the Women's 4 × 50 m obstacle relay of the lifesaving competition, two gold medals were awarded and thus no silver medal was awarded.^[28] In the Women's 500 m sprint of the track speed skating competition, only the one gold medal was awarded as the remaining competitors in the final were disqualified.^[29]

Medal design

The event's medal design was unveiled in February 2022.^[30]

Community Engagement

The World Games 2022 Experience Delivered by Shipt

In March 2019, The World Games 2022 unveiled a mobile experience, designed to generate excitement for the event and educate the local community on the sports of The 2022 Games.^[31] The traveling Mercedes Sprinter Van includes a rock climbing wall, a sumo wrestling activity, photo opportunities and an interactive trivia game where guests can win prizes. The van made its official debut at the 15th Annual MortgageBanc Chili Cook-Off on March 2, 2019. It continues to tour throughout 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

World of Opportunity

In June 2019, The World Games 2022 announced the kickoff of their supplier diversity program, World of Opportunity.^[32] The program, which was unveiled to an audience of 400 at the Birmingham CrossPlex, allows certified, diverse businesses to compete for contracts to provide goods and services for The World Games 2022. The categories accepted include (but are not limited to) transportation services, event production, security, promotional items, merchandise, sports equipment, food service, technology, printing, medical supplies, event equipment, waste removal and construction services.

Broadcasting

In July 2021, it was announced that CBS Sports Network would broadcast one-hour highlights shows on each of the ten days of competition, and two additional one-hour specials will be shown on other CBS channels and on Paramount+.^[33] Olympic Channel also carried coverage.

References

1. "The World Games 2022, Birmingham (USA) | IWGA". www.theworldgames.org. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
2. Tomberlin, Michael (June 8, 2014). "Birmingham making bid to host 2021 World Games with projected $256.5 million economic impact". al. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
3. "World Games win an affirmation: It's time to believe in Birmingham again". www.al.com. January 22, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
4. "Birmingham chosen to host 2021 World Games". WBMA-LD. Associated Press. January 22, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
5. "World Games 2021 moved to retain broadcasters, official scorers: CEO". Reuters. April 4, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
6. "The World Games 2021 Birmingham, USA Bulletin #2". Birmingham Organizing Committee. September 4, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
7. "Three competition venues announced for The World Games 2022". TWG 2022 Birmingham. February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
8. "Three more competition venues announced for The World Games 2022". TWG 2022 Birmingham. March 19, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
9. "Three Outdoor Competition Venues Announced for The World Games 2022". TWG 2022 Birmingham. April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
10. "Two Venue Changes Bring The World Games 2022 Drone Racing and Speed Skating to the 'Very Heart of the City'". February 17, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
11. "Detailed sports programme published". www.theworldgames.org. Retrieved July 7, 2020.Note: This document states 207 events, which, however, includes men's lacrosse, an invitational event.
12. "Meet Duathlon – the little sibling of Triathlon". theworldgames.org. International World Games Association. November 27, 2020. from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2021. At The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 40 female and 40 male Duathlon athletes will compete in individual competitions as well as in Mixed Relay.
13. "The World Games 2022 Birmingham Partners with NFL, Adds Flag Football". twg2022.com. July 15, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
14. . iwrf.com. International Wheelchair Rugby Federation. Archived from the original on July 28, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021. Wheelchair Rugby is a mixed team sport for male and female quadriplegic athletes. ... Men and women compete on the same teams and in the same competitions.
15. "Wushu Included as an Invitational Sport in The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, USA". iwuf.org. International Wushu Federation. September 22, 2020. from the original on October 5, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
16. "Five Invitational Sports in The World Games 2022". TWG 2022 Birmingham. September 15, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
17. "Applications open for GB Lacrosse Head Coach positions". England Lacrosse. October 7, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2020. The World Games will be played using the six-a-side proposed Olympic rules formulated in 2018, and have been trialed at both the Men's Winter Classic and Women's Super League competitions.
18. "Interview of the Month | IWGA". The World Games. December 22, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
19. Brennan, Eliott (July 17, 2022). "IWGA President Perurena hails "Comeback Games" in Birmingham 2022 Closing Ceremony". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
20. "Russia, Belarus banned from The World Games 2022 in Birmingham". WVTM 13 Digital. March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
21. Lloyd, Owen (April 5, 2022). "Share of World Games ticket revenue set to be donated to Ukraine". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
22. Brennan, Eliott (July 18, 2022). "World Games 2022 donates $54,000 to support Ukrainian athletes and sport". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
23. "Qualifications for TWG 2022, Birmingham (USA)". International World Games Association. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
24. "The World Games 2022 Puts Haudenosaunee Nationals, The Inventor Of Lacrosse, On International Stage". The World Games 2022. March 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
25. "World Games $14 million shortfall; 'We have every intention...to pay our vendors,' says CEO". www.al.com. August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
26. "Birmingham Council Approves $5 Million for World Games Debt". www.al.com. August 23, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
27. "Schedule of Events". The World Games 2022. TWG 2022 Birmingham. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
28. "Results. Event Number 3" (PDF). swog2022.sportresult.com. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
29. "Official Final Results" (PDF). swog2022.sportresult.com. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
30. Shefferd, Neil (February 23, 2022). "Medals for Birmingham 2022 World Games unveiled". Inside the Games. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
31. . The World Games 2021 | Birmingham, USA. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
32. . The World Games 2021 | Birmingham, USA. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
33. Iveson, Ali (July 26, 2021). "Birmingham 2022 World Games agrees US broadcast deal with CBS Sports Network". Inside the Games. Retrieved August 15, 2021.

External links

• Official website
• Results book