THE WORLD GAMES
Every 4 years, in the years following the Summer Olympic Games, the world’s best athletes in young, new and attractive sports and disciplines that are not part of the Olympic Games, unite in their common search for excellence during The World Games.
The organizer is the International World Games Association (IWGA), founded in 1980. IWGA has 37 member sport federations but not all sports feature necessarily on every edition. Existing infrastructure and venues in and around the host city are the determining factor in the selection of sports to the Official Sports Program. In addition, the IWGA, in coordination with the host city, can invite some sport to participate in the “invitational” programme. No World Games medals are awarded to invitational sports.
While the International Olympic Committee grants its patronage to all editions of The World Games, and while the IWGA explicitly accepts all principles in the Olympic Charter, the multi-sport games differ in one important aspect from the Olympics: the host is never required to build facilities or extend upon available infrastructure for the sake of The World Games alone. Ideally, the event is to be staged at existing venues, in appropriately sized facilities that have been planned or built regardless of the candidate host bidding for the event. This condition influences the composition of The World Games program.
One more difference to the Olympics, the invitation to and management of the competitions at The World Games are in the hands of the international sports federations.
The International World Games Federation (IWGA) presents its own video channel under the tag: “Discover the World of Sports”. The channel helps the IWGA to have an on-going presence in the years between events. It is a permanent platform that makes the events accessible and supports the member federations to present their outstanding competitions and best athletes.
To become part of The World Games programme, the sport must be widely spread in the world and the specific sport federation must be a member of the IWGA.
In each sport, only the best athletes or teams may participate, as determined by the International Sports Federations. In most classes, it is necessary to qualify by a top ranking at the World Championships or a qualification tournaments, to be able to participate.
(source The World Games )
