International World Games
IWGA logo
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| First event | 1981 – Santa Clara, California, United States |
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| Occur every | 4 years |
| Last event | 2013 – Cali, Colombia |
| Purpose | Multi-sport event for sports and disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games |
| President | José Perurena López |
| Website | TheWorldGames.org |
The World Games, first held in 1981, are an international multi-sport event, meant for sports, or disciplines or events within a sport, that are not contested in the Olympic Games. The World Games are organised and governed by the International World Games Association (IWGA), recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The World Games are held every four years, one year after the Summer Olympic Games. The next World Games will be held Wrocław, Poland, in July 2017.
A number of the sports that were on the programme of The World Games have been discontinued because they are now included in the programme of the Olympic Games, for example badminton, beach volleyball, trampolining, rugby sevens, taekwondo, triathlon and women's weightlifting. Other sports have been Olympic sports in the past (like tug of war).
Some of the sports that are held at The World Games are acrobatic gymnastics, ultimate, orienteering, body building, powerlifting, finswimming, squash, korfball, billiards, water skiing, and dance sport. The sports that are included in The World Games are limited by the facilities available in the host city; no new facilities may be constructed for the games. Between 25 and 30 sports have been included in the official programme of The World Games. 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.
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