Amsterdam
The World Dwarf Games, the World Dwarf Games, will start in Cologne (Germany) on Friday 28 July. The Dutch team of participants, from all over the country, is larger than ever with 41 participants. This makes the team, after that of Germany, also the largest team on the European mainland. More than 500 athletes from more than 20 different countries participate in the games.
Several individual training sessions, as well as joint football training, will take place next week. The Dutch delegation will then travel to Germany for the opening ceremony, which will take place on Friday evening 28 July at the NetCologne Stadium in Cologne. There, and at other locations in Cologne, tournaments will take place up to and including 6 August in both individual sports (including athletics, badminton, table tennis, swimming, weightlifting) and team sports (including football, volleyball and basketball). Several Dutch participants strive for a high final ranking. Participation at a recreational level is therefore also possible. The event also has an important social function.
The World Games in Cologne are the 8th edition. In the previous edition in 2017 in Canada, 11 Dutch people participated, in 2013, in the US, 3 Dutch people participated. In both cases, the Dutch athletes took home several medals. The growth of the Dutch Athletes Delegation of Little People is partly due to the range of targeted sports training that is organized nationwide under the flag of the BVKM (Association of Little People). The 9th World Games will be held in Australia in four years’ time.
The World Dwarf Games 2023 will be held from Friday 28 July to Saturday 5 August across the city of Cologne, mainly on the grounds of the Sport Hochschule Köln (German Sport University Cologne).
The Games are explicitly intended for people who are shorter than 1.5 meters in adulthood due to a congenital genetic growth disorder. It is the largest global social sporting event organized for little people, with equal competition and international friendship at the forefront. With these and other activities for and by little people, the emancipation and self-awareness of little people also receive an important impulse. The aim is also to positively influence the image of small people in society and to combat stigmatization and discrimination.
2023-07-24 10:33:15
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