The 2025 World Games ( zh, , s=2025年世界运动会, labels=no), commonly known as Chengdu 2025, is the 12th edition of the

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

, which includes sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. It is expected to be held from 7 to 17 August 2025 in

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

, China. This is the first edition to be held under the guidelines set by the strategy paper "Growth Beyond Excellence", the third edition to be held in Asia, and the first time for the nation to host the World Games.

Bidding process

Luo Qiang, Mayor of

, signed the Organiser Agreement for TWG 2025, with the Vice President of IOC and the Chinese Olympic Committee as witness. President José Perurena signed on behalf of the

International World Games Association The International World Games Association, abbreviated as IWGA, is an international association, recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that organises every four years, beginning in 1981, the multi-sport event called The World ...

(IWGA).

Development and preparations

Venues

On 21 May 2024, the International World Games Association announced venues for the 2025 World Games. Some of the venues selected were also used during the

2021 Summer World University Games The 2021 Summer World University Games ( zh, , s=2021年夏季世界大学生运动会, labels=no), officially known as the XXXI Summer World University Games and also known as Chengdu 2021, was a multi-sport event sanctioned by the Internationa ...

, also held in Chengdu.

Longquanyi District

*Longquan High School Gymnasium – Korfball * Chengdu Sport University Sancha Lake Campus **Athletics Field – Flying disc (Ultimate) **Outdoor Courts – Boules Sports **Natatorium – Lifesaving, Underwater sports

=Dong'an Lake Sports Park

= **Main Stadium - Opening and Closing Ceremonies **Athletics Field – Air sports **Central Square – Tug of war **Arena – Cheerleading, Gymnastics (Acrobatic, Aerobic, Trampolining) **Qinglong Lake – Archery

Eastern New Area

*Chengdu No. 7 High School Eastern Campus Athletics Field – Flag football, Lacrosse *Eastern New Area Orienteering Venue 1&2 – Orienteering

Tianfu New Area

*Tianfu Park – Fistball, Sport climbing *Xinglong Lake **Arena – Beach handball, Korfball (Beach) **Hubin – Duathlon, Canoe sports (Canoe marathon, Dragon boat), Gymnastics (Parkour) *Tianfu International Hotel Complex – Billiards Sports

=Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone

= *Guixi Park – Flying disc (Disc Golf) * Tianfu Software Park Sports Center – Powerlifting, Wushu, Racquetball and Squash

Wuhou District

*Sichuan Baseball-Softball-Hockey Centre – Softball *Sichuan Provincial Gymnasium – Kickboxing, Muaythai

Xindu District

*Chengdu Roller Sports Centre – Roller sports *Xindu Xiangcheng Sports Centre – Floorball

Jianyang

*Sancha Lake Ma'anshan Arena – Powerboating, Wakeboarding (Wake Surf Skim, Wakeboard Freestyle) *Sancha Lake Taohuadao Arena – Wakeboarding (Cable Wakeboard) *Jianyang Cultural and Sports Centre Gymnasium – Ju-jitsu, Karate, Sambo *Jianyang Cultural and Sports Centre Natatorium – Canoe sports (Canoe polo)

Torch relay

For the first time in World Games history, a torch relay will be held. The torch was revealed on 27 February 2025. Named Zhumeng, and designed by Feng Benyuan (who was one of the designers for the

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

of the 2022 Winter Paralympics) and Wang Anxu of the Jilin University of Arts, its design blends artistic forms, symbolic colors and cultural motifs in a style that reflects the spirit of the World Games and the heritage of the host nation.

The Games

Qualification

Sports

34 sports, comprising 60 disciplines and 253 medal events, have been chosen for the 2025 World Games. For the first time, powerboating and cheerleading will be represented at The World Games. In the sector of para sports, para freediving and para ju-jitsu will make their debut. Three sports which have been in all previous editions of The World Games are dropped from the 2025 program: bowling, water-skiing, and artistic roller skating.

Esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

will also be showcased as part of a partnership between the IWGA and the

Global Esports Federation The Global Esports Federation (GEF) is a non-governmental organization that convenes the world's esports (or competitive video gaming) community. It was established on December 16, 2019, and is headquartered in Singapore, where it is a registered ...

Sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

, which originally debuted in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, was dropped due to issues during competition at the

2022 World Games The 2022 World Games, commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event held from July 7 to 17, 2022, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. They were the 11th World Games, a multi-sport event featuring disciplines ...

. * * ^P *^B *Billiard sports **^P **^P **^P *^P *Canoe sports **^T **^B **^T * *^AD *^T *^B * *^B *^T *Gymnastics **^AD **^AD **^AD **^AD *^M *^M *^M *^B * *^T *^M *^T * ^T * ^S *^B *Roller sports ** ^T **^B **^T **^T *^M * ^B *^T *^B *^S *Underwater sports **^T ** ^T *^T *^M ;Notes :AD: Artistic and Dance sports :B: Ball sports :M: Martial arts :P: Precision sports :S: Strength sports :T: Trend sports

Participants

Under the 'Growth Beyond Excellence' guidelines, the maximum permitted number (including athletes and technical officials) for the sports program of the 2025 World Games and onwards will be increased from 4,200 to 5,000. 4,000 participants are proposed by the IWGA Member Federations; while the remaining 1,000 participants consists of disciplines in consultation with the organizing committee, disciplines in determination with the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

's consultation and para disciplines which will be determined through consultation with the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

Calendar

On 21 May 2024, the International World Games Association announced dates for the 2025 World Games. :''All times and dates use

China Standard Time The time in China follows a single standard UTC offset, time offset of UTC+08:00, where Beijing is located, even though the country spans five geographical time zones. It is the largest sovereign nation in the world that officially observes only ...

(

UTC+8 UTC+08:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +08:00. It is the most populous time zone in the world, as well as a possible candidate for ASEAN Common Time, mainly due to China's large population, with an estimated population ...

)''

Marketing

The emblem for the games was revealed on May 17, 2024, designed by renowned British designer, John Fairley. The design was inspired by the giant panda, hibiscus flower and Chinese knot. The mascots for the games were revealed on August 6, 2024. Shubao, a

giant panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its white animal coat, coat with black patches around the eyes, ears, legs and shoulders. ...

and Jinzai, a golden snub-nosed monkey, were created to raise awareness about rare animals and biodiversity protection.

References

External links

* {{World Games navbox

International sports competitions hosted by China

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Multi-sport events in China

Sport in Chengdu