World Games

The World Games is an international multi-sport event for sports and disciplines that are not on the program of the Olympic Games, held every four years over 11 days under the administration of the International World Games Association (IWGA) and recognized and supported by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).^{1 • 2} The IWGA describes the Games as the second-most important global multi-sport event, after the Olympics.²

Purpose and scope

The event exists for sports, and disciplines of sports, whose international federations are IWGA members but which are not on the Olympic program. Only events that are not on the full program of the immediately preceding Summer or Winter Olympic or Paralympic Games may feature, so a sport can appear at the World Games and later join the Olympics without the two events overlapping.²

The Games do not automatically include every member federation's sport. Each sports program is adapted to the identity, characteristics and existing infrastructure of the host city, so the program changes from one edition to the next. Up to and including the 2022 edition, host cities could also add invitational sports of their own selection.²

Why the event matters to athletes. The IWGA states that the 11-day event aspires to equal or exceed the importance of World Championships for the sports represented, and that for many athletes it is the pinnacle of their career; there is no higher title in their sport than World Games Champion.² The event has also served as a springboard: many sports that have appeared at the World Games have subsequently joined the Olympic Games.⁵

Organization

The IWGA was founded in 1980 and is a not-for-profit independent international organization comprising 40 International Sports Federations. Its founding goal was to strengthen the bonds of friendship between International Sports Federations and to promote excellence in sport by coordinating World Championships and other competitions into an international, modern, multisport festival.¹ Its statutory aims include providing, at four-year intervals, an international top-class multi-sport event for the sports of its member federations and seeking the widest possible public and media exposure for them.⁶

The organization is governed by a Constitution and By-Laws, while the Rules of The World Games govern all aspects of organizing and staging the event; the Anti-Doping Rules are implemented in conformance with the World Anti-Doping Code.⁷ The International Federations set the rules of their own sports and fill the qualification role that national Olympic committees perform at other events: athletes qualify through select events of their federations, with criteria set after the sports program is determined and with a principle of universality balancing performance against fair representation of nations and continents.^{5 • 2}

The Constitution also limits the Olympic presence within the event itself: participants in events governed by ASOIF and AIOWF federations approved for the official program may not exceed 25 percent of the overall number of participants in that program.⁸

Hosting model

Sustainability is written into the hosting model. A host city must not build any additional venue, accommodation or infrastructure for the Games, which the IWGA says reduces costs and the negative impact on the host while maximizing legacy; the first edition in 1981 already used venues rented from the city.^{1 • 3} This distinguishes the World Games from the Olympics, where capital construction is often the largest single source of cost.⁹

History and editions

The concept was established at the foundation meeting of the IWGA on 21 May 1980, and the first Games in Santa Clara served as a test run for it. Thomas Keller, president of the GAISF, opened the Games at Buck Shaw Stadium, reading a greeting from US President Ronald Reagan. Athletes marched in at the opening ceremony sorted by sport rather than by nation, reflecting the founding theme, in the words of Kim Un-yong representing the 12 founding member federations, of "sport for the sake of sport and a total disregard for where an athlete comes from." The organizers did not want the event acknowledged as a competitor to the Olympic movement, and participation was not to reduce chances of later Olympic integration; the IWGA cites taekwondo, women's water polo, trampoline, and badminton as examples of sports that followed this path.³

At the first Games, the USA topped the medal table with 99 medals, 39 of them gold, and South Korea took second place with nine golds; China competed and won four golds in badminton. About 80,000 spectators attended over ten competition days, using 13 venues including a parking lot converted for speed skating.³

Subsequent editions have included London 1985, Karlsruhe 1989, The Hague 1993, Lahti 1997, Akita 2001, Duisburg 2005, Kaohsiung 2009, Cali 2013, Wrocław 2017, Birmingham 2022, and Chengdu 2025.¹

Chengdu 2025 and Karlsruhe 2029. The twelfth edition took place in Chengdu, China, in August 2025, with close to 4,000 athletes from over 110 countries and regions competing in 34 sports, 60 disciplines, and 253 medal events.^{2 • 10} Karlsruhe, Germany, will host the thirteenth edition from 19 to 29 July 2029, becoming the first city to host the Games a second time after 1989; Germany is thus a three-time host, counting Duisburg 2005.^{4 • 11} The confirmed 2029 program covers 36 sports and 62 disciplines, more than the 34 sports at Chengdu, and includes badminton, cycling, minigolf, and triathlon as sports appearing only at the 2029 edition.^{11 • 1}

References

1. The IWGA, International World Games Association
2. About The World Games, IWGA
3. The World Games 1981, Santa Clara (USA), IWGA
4. IWGA — International World Games Association, Brief Sports
5. IFs, IWGA
6. The World Games, IWGA
7. Governing Documents, IWGA
8. Constitution of the International World Games Association (03/2021)
9. Projected Economic Impacts of the LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games, paralympic.org
10. See You in Karlsruhe — The World Games 2025 Chengdu
11. 36 Sportarten, 62 Disziplinen: Karlsruhe bietet die vielfältigsten World Games, DOSB

Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Olympics and multisport subjects › Multisport Games and editions › World Games

Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026

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