The 12th edition of the World Games opened this week in Chengdu, China.
The quadrennial event started in 1981 to highlight non-Olympic disciplines and has grown in popularity in recent years, showcasing sports like korfball, ultimate, and parkour, and also providing fans with an early glimpse of how future Olympic events like breaking and flag football might unfold at the next Games.
Where Can I Watch the World Games?
They are streaming on World Games Live (available via app or desktop) or the Next Level Sports Channel, which is on various services like Roku in the U.S.
Chengdu is 12 hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern Time Zone, so live events start at around 8:30 PM ET and go until around 10 AM ET the next day (the final event of the day will usually begin after 8 pm local time).
Will the World Games feature events that will be held at LA28?
Yes, 8 events on the 253-event program in Chengdu will also be contested at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Women’s Lacrosse Sixes
Women’s Flag Football
Women’s Softball
Mixed Team Compound Archery
Men’s and Women’s Speed Climbing (also was on the program in Paris)
Men’s and Women’s Squash Singles
Team USA should be medal favorites at the World Games in all these sports except squash, where the U.S. did not enter any athletes.1
The World Games have a history of hosting sports before they make their debut at the Olympics. At the first World Games in 1981, taekwondo, women’s water polo, trampoline, badminton, and baseball/softball were all featured before becoming part of the Olympic program by the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Beach volleyball and rugby sevens are team sports that have debuted at the World Games before their Olympic debut, a trend also seen in flag football and lacrosse at the 2022 and 2025 editions of the World Games.
Does the World Games feature sports that are on the Olympic program, or were once on the Olympic program but not featured at LA28?
Yes. Sports like archery and gymnastics will hold medal events at the World Games in disciplines that are not on the Olympic program, like field archery and synchronized trampoline.
The World Games also feature numerous sports that the IOC recognizes, but are currently not on the Olympic program, including tug-of-war, karate, and breaking.
Tug-of-War: (5 Olympics, 1900-1920)
The U.S. swept the podium at the 1904 St. Louis Games in men’s tug of war, and this year at the World Games will be sending a women’s tug of war team for the first time in over twenty years.2
Karate (1 Olympics, Tokyo 2020):
Team USA’s World Games delegation features Tokyo bronze medalist Ariel Torres competing in men’s kata. Karate has been contested at all twelve World Games and remains a sport where the United States is still chasing its first World Games gold medal.
Breaking (1 Olympics, Paris 2024):
Paris Olympian Logan Edra, aka b-girl Logistx, will be competing for Team USA in Chengdu. The U.S. break dance team won three medals at the latest edition of the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, held in 2022.
What events should Team USA be gold medal favorites in at the 2025 World Games?
Team sports should be the best medal chances for Team USA. Over one in five events at the World Games are either a pairs or a team event and these sports are where Team USA could shine.
Flying disc, mixed team ultimate: The sport that shall not be called Ultimate Frisbee3 is where Team USA is looking for an unprecedented six-peat4 at the World Games (in the event, and comes into the event as the reigning world champion. Even as the heavy favorites, the Americans have lost a game in pool play at the last two previous World Games, so their games should be close.
Inline hockey: The U.S. men have won four of the last five gold medals awarded at the World Games and enter the World Games as the reigning world champion. Their toughest competition will likely come from Spain.
Softball, Flag Football, Lacrosse: The U.S. women should reach the gold medal game in each of these events, where they will likely face a rival nation that could be seen as co-gold medal favorite (Japan in softball, Mexico in flag football, Canada in lacrosse)
Cheerleading: This sport is making its World Games debut, and the U.S. will send reigning world champions, Allison Hoeft & Sydney Martin, to compete in Pom doubles, the only cheerleading event on the program.
Speed Climbing: Sport Climbing will add two new events in speed climbing, not on the Olympic or World Championships program: team relay and 4-person speed events in each gender, in which Team USA will include four Paris Olympians, including bronze medalist Sam Watson.
Bonus: Beach Korfball and Men’s Softball:
The U.S. qualified for beach korfball, making its World Games debut, and men’s softball, on the World Games program for the first time since the inaugural World Games in 1981. The U.S. finished strongly at previous World Championships in these sports (bronze medal in men’s softball, fourth in beach korfball), so they should contend for a medal in both sports in Chengdu.
I HAVE PARIS OLYMPIC FOMO….WHAT SHOULD I WATCH AT THE WORLD GAMES?
If you missed the Paris Olympics this summer and need to watch an equivalent of your favorite sport to watch, here is a quick guide.
GYMNASTICS FAN…The World Games features five different Gymnastics disciplines (Acrobatic, Aerobic, Parkour, Tumbling and Trampoline).
Team USA is likely strongest in Tumbling and Trampoline, where they feature two-time double mini world champion Ruben Padilla and defending World Games gold medalist Kaden Brown in men’s tumbling. In parkour, the U.S. will look to win its first-ever World Games medal in the event with two-time world medalist Audrey Johnson.
SURFING FAN… Motosurf and Wake Surf both make their World Games debut… The U.S. will bring Jett Lambert, the U18 world champion in wake skim event, but the American team will be absent the two defending world champions (Tyler Stewart, Whitley Stewart) as both opted to skip the World Games.
SWIMMING FANS…Watch Finswimming and Lifesaving, which are the two events taking place in the pool, but be forewarned that zero Americans qualified in these events.
TRACK AND FIELD FANS…Only a few events will take place on a track, and those include Inline speed skating and Drone Racing. For long-distance running fan, may I suggest Orienteering and Duathlon (triathlon without swimming). And for the field events fans, check out the boules sports Pétanque and Lyonnaise.
GOLF AND TENNIS FANS…there is Flying Disc Golf or Racquetball, both sports where the U.S. team should contend for medals.
TEAM SPORTS FAN…
If you like Volleyball…get familiar with Fistball, a.k.a. Grass Volleyball
If you like Basketball…there is Korfball
3x3 Basketball there is Beach Korfball
Water Polo…Canoe Polo
Field Hockey…Floorball
Men’s or Women’s Eight (Rowing)…Dragon Boat (Canoe)
COMBAT SPORTS FAN… Kickboxing, Muaythai, Sambo, take the place of Boxing, Taekwondo, Judo, and Wushu could be a World Games replacement for Fencing.
NEEDING AN EARLY MILAN CORTINA FIX
Roller Sports help provide that with Inline Speed Skating, Inline Hockey, Inline Freestyle that features Speed and Slalom events.
Artistic skating, figure skating on inline skates, a fixture of the World Games since the inaugural event in 1981, is not on the program at this World Games.
TEAM USA OVERALL MEDAL COUNT
Thanks to hosting the 2022 World Games, the U.S. won 44 medals (16 gold medals), placing second on the overall medal table and equaling the most medals the Americans have won since the 1997 World Games.
The U.S. should still contend for about 20 to 30 medals at the 2025 World Games, which could be a solid tally since Team USA will likely only be competing in just over 30% of the events.5
Many of the top squash professional players do not compete at the World Games instead keeping their focus on the professional tour and the upcoming Diamond (the highest level) event in Egypt at the beginning of September.
In 2001, the U.S. women’s tug of war finished third, but women’s tug of war was still considered an invitational sport by the World Games, so they didn’t officially medal. Starting at the World Games 2025, there will no longer be an invitational sport introduced by host countries, but rather sports like dragon boat will be added by the World Games host, and the participants will be given medals. This follows the IOC’s lead to eliminate demonstration sports and allow the host cities to add 3 to 4 sports that are an official part of the program for those Olympic Games.
Many former demonstration sports at previous Olympic Games are featured at the World Games: lifesaving (1900), korfball (1920, 1928), air sports (1936), water Skiing (1972), roller Hockey (1992), and wushu (2008)
"Frisbee" is a brand name for a flying disc, while "flying disc" is the generic term for any disc designed to be thrown and caught. Official discs in Disc Golf and Team Ultimate are not Frisbees or made by the Wham-O-Toy company.
Has never happened in Flying Disc at the World Games. Netherlands has won all 10 editions of korfball at the World Games
A variety of factors have lowered Team USA’s athletes from the 2022 World Games to the 2025 World Games, and also their medal count
1) They are competing in less events with a smaller squad. Qualification gets more difficult at the World Games when you are not the host county because they have smaller athletes per event than the Olympics. The host country is usually guaranteed an athlete in each event.
2) Some top U.S. athletes like reigning field archery world champion, Brady Ellison, who medaled at the last three World Games, decline their spot on the team.
3) The World Games had some significant shifts in events on the program. Like the Olympics, Chengdu was able to add sports like dragon boat ,that is popular in Asia and featured at the quadrennial Asian Games, to the program. Sports like bowling and waterskiing, that the U.S. usually medals in these events quadrenially at the PanAmGames, were eliminated from the Chengdu program.
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