Beijing 2022 Olympics, but not only …
Anyone who loves sports knows very well that the 2022 will still be Olympic, as it historically is every even year, given the four-year frequency of the summer and winter Games: being alternated, every two years there is a month in which the best sportsmen of certain disciplines compete in the shadow of the historic symbol of the five circles. Exceptionally, due to the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by one year, the 2021 that is about to end also experienced the magic of the Games hosted by Japan despite being an odd year.
In February we will still stay in Asia, as in the last two editions between summer and winter. After Pyeongchang 2018 which took place in South Korea, in fact, the best athletes in ice and snow sports will fly to China, in the capital Beijing, with the aim of wearing a medal that always makes history. However, not all disciplines are obviously included in the Games and, indeed, at each edition the list of events is re-discussed to keep up with the times. Sport climbing, karate and skateboarding, for example, have entered Tokyo, but what happens to those who are left out? 2022 will also be the year of World Games.
The World Games: There is room for everyone at the World Games
Unfortunately for those who stay out of the Games, the application process is extremely long and tortuous, also because it is in the interests of the International Olympic Committee to give a certain continuity to the editions and avoid the risk of following passing fads. However, this characteristic has always been penalizing for excluded sports, which therefore in the second half of the twentieth century began to organize themselves through their national and international federations. The first real agreement between the various parties was found in 1979, while the following year some members met to decide the format of the event, called World Games.
In 1981, finally, it was the year of the official debut in the chosen location in Santa Clara, in the United States. On that occasion, the program included 15 different disciplines, from badminton to taekwondo, which today are, moreover, in all respects Olympic sports. The first, historic medal of the World Games was assigned to Great Britain, thanks to the victory of her tug-of-war team.
World Games, sports present
Yes, you read that right, the tug of war. In fact, there are many disciplines that do not enter the elite that access the Olympic Games every four years and of this long list of World Games there are some sports that we hear about every day, and news spread only in some areas of the world, and disciplines that simply tend not to be considered real sports.
The complete list, simplified here by multiple facets, is impressive and leaves room for the imagination: aikido, skydiving, women’s baseball, men’s softball, billiards, bocce, bowling, canoe marathon, canoe polo, sports dance, finswimming, floorball, fistball, frisbee, ju-jitsu, korfball, water rescue, muay thai, orienteering, powerlifting, sumo, tug of war, water skiing, wakeboarding, some archery specialties, parkour, some specialties of the gymnastics, roller hockey, roller skating, squash, kickboxing, drones. To these are added the demonstration sports that will be present in the edition of 2022 World Games in Alabama, Birmingham, initially scheduled for 2021 but then postponed by twelve months together with the Tokyo Olympics: it is about flag football, wheelchair rugby, lacrosse, duathlon, kung fu.
In short, a great variety of disciplines ranging from different martial arts to local sports such as Dutch korfball, or to enormously expanding practices such as wakeboarding, water skiing in the version with the board instead of skis.
World Games, curiosities
To close the picture of sports, we can mention some of those who in the past have had a place in World Games: we talk about twirling, bicycle soccer, artistic cycling, boomerang, bodybuilding, mini golf, paragliding, American football. To these are added a good number of extremely local disciplines, such as pesapallo or tchoukball. Given the objective of economic sustainability that the organizers set themselves from time to time, makeshift locations are often chosen to host the tests, from zoos to foundries to universities. It must be said that since 2000 the IOC has confirmed the importance of World Games and sponsored the organization, while the last edition of 2017 was the first broadcast on the official Olympic channel.
Obviously the resonance of the event is not in the least comparable to that of the Olympics, but in the same way the sportsmen overcome tough qualifications like their noble colleagues to access the World Games, bring with them stories and sacrifices and compete for medals they will never forget. . The next appointment, as mentioned, will be at Birmingham in the state ofAlabama, in United States from 7 to 17 July 2022. Even just out of curiosity, during those ten days a good idea can be to try to tune in to the dedicated channels: emotions will not be lacking, also because three times in the first ten editions Italy finished at the top of the overall medal table.
